The Elder Scrolls: The Ebon Indenture
by Dovakaaz
Summary: We enter our young khajiit, Ly'ro, as he begins his career in the family business as a thief, and meets many different faces along the way. As he does this, he realizes that he's more important than he already is, when he is called upon by the daedric prince Nocturnal, in order to undergo his "true purpose". Only calamity ensues afterwards.
1. Prelude - Requisite's Task

Patience.

Patience was a word that was commonly directed at me by my mother, In many different situations: From when I was waiting for her to order a book from outside Skyrim, To waiting for father to finally come back from one of his "Business ventures", Patience was always a word she used in a time like this. I am a khajiit that respects and serves family at all times, Especially when it comes to my mother's words, But in this situation, The word "patience" was simply useless. My tail is wagging half as fast as a dog's tail would, My body is shivering slightly due to the high anticipation of the moment. My heart is thumping fairly hard, And I am tapping my fingers against my crossed arms as I lean on the wall of my home, Prepared to leave. My mother should have been down by now, But she must be taking her time. I don't blame her too much.

I was still dealing with minor anxiety, So in efforts to pass the time, I decided to revise my traveling gear. I grinned and looked at my own garments: The thieves guild armor, The armor I've been training in the art of stealth for so long to be worthy of equipping. I specifically desired the gray, Sleeveless variant of the armor for the sake of increased dexterity and nimbleness in combat. I also thought that this version of the armor was much more "stylish". I brandish my weapon of choice from my back side, Just above my tail; An enchanted dagger, Purchased and smuggled from the College of Winterhold, To my possession. According to my father, It was specifically nicknamed "The Carapace Bane". The reason why the blade carried this nickname, I forgot. I hoped it would come back to me eventually. I also hoped I wouldn't have to use the blade at all; While I certainly am not afraid of a battle, I only desire theft, not death. I sheathe my dagger back on my side, And rummage through my backpack. My inventory contains the basics of traveling, Along with a few leisure items: Bottled Water, Salmon steak, A copy of "Surfeit of Thieves", A watch, and a torch. All of these, I assume are necessary for my travels, Be it a simple ride on the carriage, or a walk through the northern mountains. As I Anxiously look through my things, I neglect to notice my mother already has appeared, Prepared to give me my delivery item, and send me off.

Her expression is neutral as of now, But I'm sure she's both happy and sad at the fact that I'm leaving for good now. She is carrying some odd package, Wrapped in linen and leather straps.

As I Repack the items in my bag, I ask, "I presume that is apart of my commission?"

She nodded and approached me, Slowly.

I continued, "So, What lies within that bundle of wraps, Mother?"

"If your father wanted you to know what was in this package, It wouldn't have the wraps over it." She replied in a somewhat surly manner.

I placed the package in my inventory and readied my bag on my back. Assuming It's finally time to go, My enthusiasm increased quickly,"Alright! So, what is the task at hand, Mother?"

She crosses her arms. "Well, Aren't we eager to start our new 'profession' as a filthy guild thief?"

I raise a brow. "You weren't acting as if that was a bad thing when I told you I wouldn't be in the house that often."

Her face turned sour as she raised her voice in anger. "Well you know what? I didn't want you or your sister Sharia to follow down your father's-"

I cut her off so our housecarl, Jordis, Didn't hear her yelling. "Mother! Please, calm down."

After a few breaths, Her head hangs low in sad reality. "Ly'ro... I wanted you to live an honest life, far, far away from this... I wanted the same for your sister, as well."

I approach her, attempting to wrap my arms around her."I understand already, Mother; we've been over this many times."

As I attempt to comfort her, She shoves me with one arm as her other arm covers her face, Which I had thought was in tears. "Ly'ro... my cub... you are my flesh and blood, But..." She raised her head and looked me directly in the eyes. "...Not like this; Not now."

I continued to look at her in a worried fashion.

She stared at me for a little while longer and then got back to the subject, Which was my first job for the guild. "Your first assignment for the guild is a simple delivery job."

I refocused myself.

"The package I gave you is to be delivered to an argonian named 'Walks-in-shadows' in the canal locksmith in Riften; You may meet up with your sister on the way there." She walked past me to the table, Took a seat as well as a deep breath. "After you deliver the package to the argonian, he should tell you where the thieves guild headquarters is, Then you can take more jobs from the members and doyens that reside within it. That is all."

Doing my best to not worry about how my mother felt, I walked to the door, Ready to leave.

Before I could touch the knob, my mother called me again. "Ly'ro... My cub..." She looked at me with a smile and a wave, and said,"...Best of luck to you."

I smiled back at her, Nodded slowly, and without another word, Left my home.

I took my steps out of the door and outside. My eyes squinted slightly at the brightness outside, for it was my first time coming outside today. I undoubtedly was not going to travel to Riften on foot, So my first thoughts are to purchase a carriage there. I began taking the walk towards the city gate. A carriage ride from solitude to riften was going to be quite the trip, so I relaxed a little, and preserved my enthusiasm until I actually arrived at Riften. When my thoughts were empty and my walk was getting dull, I decided to simply be the person I was, since I was a kitten; A nosy one.  
I rarely had people to speak to as a young one, and basically never had any friends in my life. Being the only khajiit family in Solitude didn't exactly help either, So I chose to simply listen into other's conversations and inspect how they are. Many people in solitude would be surprised by how much I know about them. When I started paying attention, I noticed a few guards eyeing me and giving me nasty looks. One guard in particular, was very clear in his expression. He was staring directly at me, eyes squinted. I stopped and looked back at him, with a brow raised.  
"Is something the matter?" I asked, with normality.

"I know thieves guild armor when I see it, You're not fooling anyone, scum!" The guard replied quickly, in an antagonizing manner.

I sadistically grinned after a few seconds of pretending to be oblivious. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, with obvious sarcasm.

"Just keep it moving... 'citizen'." The guard then spits, and afterwards ignores me, Not even looking in my general field of direction.

I continue to the solitude gates. I didn't blame him for his hatred and disgust towards me. Since the civil war ended, and the dragon crisis was averted by the dragonborn a decade ago, the guards have had little to worry about and bandit's have been less and less brazen these days, so they're quite uncommon.  
That being said, The guild, The Dark Brotherhood, and a few other undesirables are the only things left people have to despise these days. I just wished these guards and people would understand that just because i'm a thief doesn't mean that i'm this mindless, soulless person they label me as. I'm not asking for anyone's sympathy, and I know them feeling such a way would never occur, but I wish someone outside of my family would understand a few things about me and my kin. I wonder if they realize how awkward it is, being born into a family of thieves; Or better yet, knowing how awkward it is, having the guild-master of the thieves guild as your father. I never asked to be in such a position. I just desired someone outside of my family to vent that frustration towards, because I'm sure my mother and Jordis understood completely.

As I finish rambling to myself, I arrive at the main gate to solitude. The gate keepers, looking bored and lazy, let me outside, and I went down the road to find the nearest carriage. Leaving the city of stone and market behind and seeing and smelling some trees and natural foliage was nice; I don't come outside the city a lot. I arrived at the carriage, Stationed at the first watchtower outside solitude, surveying Katla's farm. It was the evening of tirdas, So I knew that the coach wouldn't be preoccupied with snobby peddlers or half-witted adventurers, Seeking an early grave. It did, however, have a single, pales skinned, woman in black robes, carrying a satchel with a few alchemical herbs sticking out of it. She looked as if she were in her early 20's, and had a distant, somewhat psychotic look in her eyes. Paranoia and unknowing had me in fear, Causing me to assume that she was a necromancer, Trying to get an easy picking of test subjects, or undead slaves, or worse. I called the carriage driver. He looked at me patiently, waiting for my response.

"Khajiit."

"So, where is this carriage stopping?" I attempted to relax, sitting away from the black-clothed woman.

"We're stopping at Whiterun, then at Riften, and back." He replied.

Still worrisome of the second passenger, I asked,"How long does it take to get to Riften at average time?"

"You'll be there by nightfall, most likely."

I took a small breath and waited for the carriage to embark. Calming down, I retrieved my book and began reading, and minutes later, the carriage began moving and my journey to Riften began.


	2. Adopting a stray

My carriage ride was a dull and quiet one. Turns out the book that I brought with me was much shorter than I anticipated, and none of the three of us were much talkers, So I had just been sightseeing, which wasn't necessarily bad, since the amount of time I spend outside Solitude's walls were miniscule. On our way to our first stop, we passed through a quiet village called Rorikstead. It seemed like a decent settlement; children frolicking about, farmers doing their farming, and so on. I continued to watch the children in particular, happy and content. It began to irritate me, how joyful and carefree they all looked. I wondered if they knew what pain was.

I knew I was just getting angry over how poor and pitiful my childhood was, so I did what I could to take my mind off of it and turned my head away from the view of the village. As I turned my head, I take a moment to inspect the pale-skinned woman near me. She is twitching slightly, and is impatiently tapping her fingers against her satchel. I continued to keep my distance from her. We had made it to our first stop, at the Whiterun stables, before passing some landmarked watchtower on the way there. I heard it was where the Dragonborn killed his first dragon or something, but I didn't care about it at all. The carriage driver left the driver's seat to grab fresh wheels and horse feed for his next ride.

"Okay, I'm gonna be gone for at least 15 minutes, so make sure you get back in time if you leave the area."

The woman and I nodded silently.

"Okay, now off the carriage, wheels need fixin'."

We vacated the passenger seats and waited until repairs were made. There were many diversions and so on around the woman and I. I looked behind me to the lodge behind us; The Owls Perch Inn, I recall it being titled. Probably exists for all the tourists and travelers moving through Whiterun. I also knew there was a small market on the outskirts of Whiterun, near the entrance to the city gate, However I couldn't see it from where I was standing, and I wasn't going to move over there to look either. I didn't want to risk losing my ride to Riften, and I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

I stayed put, and as I did, the I notice the woman's doing something very different now; She's staring directly at me. With a desperate looking expression, she gazes at me, as if she were expecting something. With that stare, I took the time to fully analyze her. I approached her, with my dagger on standby, and gave her a closer inspection. She was clearly a woman, black robed and pale, as I learned earlier today, but I noticed something new, as I inspected her in a non-inconspicuous manner. Her scent was slightly smelling of a foul mixture; An addictive mixture that, unfortunately, is apart of the stereotype of the khajiit culture.

With her scent smelling of said mixture, it was obvious what she was. She wasnt some deadly necromancer yearning for a new corpse to use as her plaything; She was just a skooma-addict. It was also obvious that she thought I had said product. My anger had risen incredibly quickly, due to my hatred towards skooma.

"You nord bitch!"

Some guards in the background started watching us.

"You've got some damned nerve thinking I haul such trash!"

My sudden shouting towards her scared her, and she fell to the ground.

She burst into tears, and looked up to me, in a pitiful manner. "I'm sorry, I just really need it..."

I looked back at her, angered, yet sympathetic.

I stared at her on the ground, helpless and pathetic, pouring tears down her face for about 30 seconds, until a terrible memory was brought upon me. After so much as remembering it slighty, I grabbed her arm and raised her up from the ground.

As I lifted her, she looked at me with confusion.

"Follow me."

I had taken her for a walk to the outskirts market, Hoping I didnt take too much time. As we toured hastily, I scanned every store for an alchemy vendor.

"What are we doing? Are you turning me in? Can I be arrested for this?!" She said in panic.

"No you can't. Now shut your mouth! You're attracting attention."

Finding out that there weren't any Alchemy centers nearby, I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me to a khajiit caravan. I was sure they had what I desired- I knew they had all types of items, knowing the caravan that stops at the gate of solitude. I approached the khajiit merchant; His ears were twitching and seemingly uncomfortable. His exhibition of discomfort had me assuming he wasnt from the cold winds of Skyrim and he was from the deserts of Elsweyr, a "real khajiit", as I used to call them as a cub.

Rushing, to the subject, I ask the merchant about his goods,"Hey, You have some potions in stock, right?"

The khajiit nods, and speaks in his somewhat clear accent. "Yes, we have that and all kinds of different wares, but a mere potion is this one's only desire, no?"

"That's right." I reach for my coinpurse. "How much for a healing potion? Cheapest one you've got."

The merchant nodded, and rummaged through his stock, retrieving a small flask filled with red, thick liquid. He thinks of a price to offer while inspecting it and reading its label. "Hmm... fourty gold will do for this item."

I nod and count my coins. I completed my transaction, and handed the addicted nord her healing remedy.

"Drink it."

As I handed it to her, she looked at me with a mixture of bafflement and sincere gratitude.

"You would do this... for a stranger?"

I ignored her sincerity. "I said, drink it!"

She had gasped slightly and quickly drank the fluid from the potion, gagging on it slightly.

I had seen the carriage had been fully repaired, so I walked back to it and returned to my seat. The no longer addicted nord did the same.

The carriage ride was on its way to Riften, and my step towards the guild grew even closer now. The carriage was much less silent than it was before, for obvious reasons.

With a few minutes of silence on the carriage, after passing by a landmark called the Valthiem Towers, the woman speaks to me, "Thank you so much for what you've done."

I nod slowly.

"But... why?"

I look at her with a small amount of irritation. "When you find a gold ingot while walking down a road, do you ask any questions?

"I guess that makes sense. I wish I could repay you however." She looks down on her lap.

Repayment wasn't on my mind, but when she brought it up, my interest had risen greatly. "What do you think you can do for me, Nord?"

"Well, you're an adventurer, aren't you?"

I laughed subtly. "I guess you could say that."

The carriage driver turns around and gives me a strange look.

"How... ominous of you." She looked at me, warily. "But I will pretend you didn't imply anything of a malicious nature."

"Answer my question, nord." I asked impatiently.

She returns to the subject. "Well, I'm sure you won't believe me, but I'm the daughter of a master alchemist, as well as scripturist from the arcane university in Cyrodiil."

I raised an eyebrow in interest and curiosity. "Go on."

She continued. "A few months ago, I came to Skyrim in attempts to learn of the exotic ingredients here, but..." She looked down on her lap. "My parents..." her eyes squinted."They disowned me."Tears began to run down from her eyes again."A courier sent me a note from my parents down in Cyrodiil..." Her hand balled into a fist. "The note said that they will no longer fund my stay in Skyrim and that I'm on my own from now on." "I was out of money, and I didn't know what to do at the time, so I wandered, crying about for days, but then a khajiit like you appeared and said that he had something that can help me feel better." She looked back at me. "You know the rest."

I continue to look at her, expectantly.

"I have been doing... horrible things... in efforts to obtain skooma for the past months..."

"I didn't ask for your life story, nord." Can you repay me, or can you not?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Good." I lean back on the carriage, and silence resumes itself once again.

During the carriage ride, we rode past another small town, called Fleetford. It was just another peaceful, quiet village. Not many children there at all, so I didn't get angry over bad memories again, luckily. After that, we came by Shor's Stone, a village that seemed to be centered around an ebony ore mine called "Redbelly Mine". It was interesting to see miners work whilst I was lying back on the coach. After that, along with a few more minutes of silence and horse-powered travel, we finally reach Riften's stables, just before the dusk had fell. My Hyperactivity came back to me; I jumped out the carriage, ecstatically. The nord walked out of the carriage behind me. I looked back at her, remembering something.

"Oh, yeah. What's your name?"

She smiles. "Hildir."

I nodded. "Well then, Hildir, my name is Ly'ro, and I'm more than sure you aren't going to do anything but follow me around like a lost dog from here on, so feel free to continue to do so."

Her smile faded quickly. "Okay."

"Know this, however." My facial expression turned serious, as I remember a quote my father used for me as a cub many times. "You do what I say. No questions, No exceptions."

She frowned slowly. "...Okay."

"Good, I've made myself clear. Let's get moving then, Hildir."

With those words, I approached the Riften gate and my real work with the thieves' guild would finally begin soon.


	3. Delivered

We had reached Riften in all it's dank and gritty glory. It was dusk by time we opened the gate, so that didn't make it look any more pleasant. The houses are all wooden, and partially filled with woodpecker holes. The town smells strongly of canal-water and mead, which I assumed were due to two of Riften's most important distinctions. One of the many things my mother taught me aside from how to count and read, are the things that make all different hold capitals unique. Solitude was different by being the holder of Jarl Elisif the Fair, who I basically called queen of Skyrim to some point. Whiterun is the hold in the center of Skyrim, so it's a trading center almost, along with the companions. Riften had the Black-Briar Meadery, which is assisted by the guild.

It also had a canal system which served for transporting cargo crates by boat. There was also a fishery, which I didnt care too much for. The town was almost empty, with it being night at the point we arrived. Guards carrying torches scouted by. As we continued to tour, I looked down in the canalworks below town. hooded men and women were were creeping by below. A complex of planks, wooden railings, logs, ropes, boats and more were constructed down the canal to contain human life. Doors leading to homes, rags and clothings being hung out to dry, crates, fishing gear, and partially water-soaked boats sitting just outside their doors were all things that I saw during the look down below. With no disremembering of my goal, I found a staircase leading down the canal and continued through. As we took our steps down the planked road, we were greeted by a burly, not-so-friendly voice.

"Hey!"

Hildir gasped, and I turned to the mystery voice with my dagger ready.

A large, bearded man standing by a brazier fire, with two women were looking at us, All of which I couldn't analyze even with them sitting by fire due to the darkness of the recent nightfall.

The Man spoke: "Come here. Now."

We approached the three, slowly.

With a closer inspection, I learned that it was a nord man with two women in revealing dresses, one absorbing warmth from the flames, and the other casually standing, holding a flower basket. The two women had long hair, skimpy outfits and had quantities of make-up on themselves, at night; It was painfully obvious what their "profession" was.

The Nordic man spoke,"I don't know you. You in Riften looking for trouble?"

"No. I'm here to start my work for the guild."

Hildir gasped and looked at me, terrified.

The nord responds,"A little cat like you? Ha!"

My anger rose, but I turned the anger into arrogance. Mother taught me better, but I didn't mind using it on someone I assumed was just a street rat. I smiled. "You obviously don't know who I am."

"Oh?" The nord raised his eyebrow. "Well, who are you then, little stray?"

"I am Ly'ro. Son of the guild master."

The nord, the women, and Hildir all stared at me with incredible surprise.

The nord changed his tune from interrogative and undervaluing, to respecting and apologetic almost instantly.

"Oh, it's you!"

I grinned.

"Sorry about the questioning; guards have been cracking down on illegal activities for some time now, and you can never be too careful."

I assumed my position gave me some form of natural respect among thieves, so I decided to keep that in mind whenever I spoke from now on.

"Don't worry about it, just watch who you're speaking to next time."

"Absolutely! You aren't going to tell your father about this, are you?"

I was confused why he would ask a question like that for something so insignificant. I guess my father is extremely strict with the guild or something. However, One of the extremely few things my father taught me was that opportunity is always your desire, in all situations, not just stealth. That being said, I took opportunity by the throat.

"Hmm... well, what would you offer to prevent that?"

The nord claps twice, looking at one of the girls. The woman holding the flower basket places it on the ground, and comes very close to me, glaring at me in a flirty manner.

"How about a free treat?" The nord says.

I blushed. "Okay, that's not necessary, I was just wondering what you would offer." I said hastily.

The woman backs off, laughing. "Such a shame, I was dying to see all the strong muscles under that dark fur of yours, young khajiit."

I take a deep breath. "Anyway, I'm trying to find the canal locksmith?"

He points right across from himself to a door with a sign that from what I assumed said "Canal Locksmith".

"Thanks."

He nods, and the flower lady waves me goodbye.

I turn around to move over there. As I turn around, I notice hildir has still been staring at me blankly, this entire time.

"Quit your glaring and come on, you idiot." I order her with irritation.

She follows me again after a few more seconds of staring.

We approached the door and I knocked on it.

An argonian woman cracked the door.

"You have questions?" The argonian woman looks at me, slightly annoyed, possibly from being awoken from sleep.

"Yes, I'm the one who's supposed to deliver this package to you."

Her tired eyes widen. "Ah, tis' you. And this woman?"

"Oh, her? She's with me."

She nods. "Come inside, both of you."

We enter the house. Her shop area looks no different from any merchandising area; wooden display counters stand in an angle dividing customers from merchandise, displays and stands lie on the counter showing various items regarding locks and keys and so on. The only real difference right now is that its underground, surrounded and encased in stone.

The argonian woman calls for someone. "Shadow!"

Another argonian appears, from around the house. A male. I assumed he was walk-in-shadows, my contact for the job.

He looks at her evident lady. "Thank you, my beloved. You can go back to sleep now."

She leaves, and the male stands and looks only at me.

"Ah, so you're the thief prince." He looks me up and down. "Young and enthusiastic, Even at nightfall, I like that."

I nod with confidence. "I am Ly'ro, and this is my... companion, Hildir."

he looks at her, with suspicion.

"Don't worry, she's just a stupid, skooma-addicted Nord."

Shadows turns his attention. "Well then, i'm not sure why you would choose to burden yourself with such a woman, but I won't ask.

Hildir frowns, and hangs her head.

"Anyway, you're probably ready to get introduced into the guild."

"Absolutely, Sir!" I smiled and responded in noticeable fervor.

"Well, too bad!" Shadows replied in a happy form of sarcasm.

My smile flipped to a frown quickly.

"W-what?" I asked in complete bafflement.

He wiped his hand against his scaly face.

"I'm completely tired right now, so you're going to have to wait until I get some sleep. Tomorrow, basically." He says, then afterwards yawns.

"Wait! B-But..." I try to think of something that can negate this.

I had thought about using my position as the guild master's son as leverage to make him do as I say, but I didn't want to push it. The odds seemed unbalanced to me; He already seems to know of my position, and due to the way he's talking to me, he doesn't seem to care at all.

Shadow responds,"No butts for sale here! If you're looking for those, there's two women and a Nord outside the door. They are the ones you're looking for."

"I saw them." I reply in reaction to his sarcasm.

"Well then, with that being said, I guess I should give you the package now."

My ears flipped. "Wait, what?"

He had walked to a corner and opened a crate, Retrieving a package, wrapped in leather bindings, just like the one I have, and handed it to me.

"Give me your package."

I had taken off my backpack, retrieved the package and handed it to him.

"Good, now take this one and open it at the counter."

I did as he said. I placed the item at the counter and unwrapped it from the bindings.

It's contents contained a rolled up kit of basic thievery tools and accessories: Five Lock-picks, a clear vial labeled "invisibility", a black vial with a skull on it, which I assumed was poison, and a key." I knew that those were lock-picks because my father told me how to use them. The key, however, I didn't know anything about.

I picked it up and asked shadows,"what's this?"

"That would be the key to your new living space, next door."

My eyes widened. "Oh, uh... right, thank you."

"You needn't worry. Now, I would explain more, but like I said, I'm tired. I gave you your place to sleep, now take your tail out of here."

I left with Hildir and brought the tool kit with me outside to the door next door, locked, obviously. I used the key to unlock the door, wondering what the house looks like, other than an underground adobe. I opened the door and entered. My opinions on the canal house were a mixed bag. I was surprised at its attempts to look so... cozy, minus an odd smell. There was a cooking pot and a fireplace with wooden chairs directed at it.

There was a wooden table with wooden plates, forks and an unlit lantern on top of it. Around the table was a cupboard, with slightly dusty empty boxes, ready to be filled with whatever clutter is prepared. Another object near the table was a salmon rack, with a left over fish still on it, which explained the bad smell. There was a second floor, led by a staircase that is, of course, made of wood. Hildir stayed put on the bottom floor while I climbed to the top to continue my tour. It was a small room, containing a bed for one, a personal chest on top of a table, a dresser, and a grey knapsack, similar to mine, leaning on the dresser. I went back down to speak to Hildir.

"Hildir." I said.

"Yes?" Hildir said, with great grief.

"There's only one bed in the house."

"Oh..." she replied with despair.

I reached for my coin-purse to pay for her troubles, again. I gave her about 30 gold.

"Get yourself a room at the inn."

"There's an inn here?" Hildir replied, confused.

I handed her the coins. "You better hope so, otherwise you're sleeping on the stone floor."

She gave me a sad look.

"Is that all you do is frown, cry, and complain about everything?" I replied in irritation.

She begins to get angry and raises her voice. "Don't you understand what's happened to me, you self-centered thug?"

I stepped back, surprised at her sudden anger.

"I was once sitting in my bed, in Cyrodiil sleeping in the noble districts of the Imperial City!"

Her eyes are filled with anger and releasing tears.

"And now, I've become this... this..." She sits in silence for a moment.

"Wench?" I replied, carelessly.

She bursts into tears. "Why did you even help me if you don't even give a damn about me?" Hildir said with many sobs before and after her sentence.

"Because... You reminded me of someone when you were sitting there, hopelessly crying back in Whiterun."

She continued to cry.

I sighed and approached her, with a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, Hildir."

She looked at me with the same pitiful, tear drenched look she's given me 3 times now.

"You have to get a hold of yourself."

"How?" She replied.

I dried her tears with my hands.

"You see Hildir, I was specifically trained to be a thief as soon as I turned 13. I had many different people training me in the art of stealth, lock-picking, pickpocketing, mercantilism, and battle. One of those trainers I got really close to. He was a big and strong khajiit, the nicest out of all of them, and always talked to me when my parents and my sister wouldn't. I had developed somewhat of a crush on him, to be honest. His name was ma'arda."

She began to look at me, patiently.

I continued. "One day, I learned about skooma. Then, I learned that Ma'arda, who I was looking up to all this time, was addicted to it. One other day, he took me to some place and told not to say anything. We went to a ship and he brought me to these men. I had no idea what was going on, but it only took me a while to realize he had tried to sell me to pirates so they can hold me for ransom. The pirates tied my hands together and threw me in the cargo area. Luckily, my sister was following me for some time, and she brought my father before the ship attempted to leave. My father, and my sister, both armed with deadly blades, slayed every last crew member on the ship to rescue me. When they unbound me and took me out of the cargo hold I came out to a deck of dead sailors everywhere. Ma'arda was still alive on the deck, mortally wounded and on the ground, bleeding out from his lower torso." My eyes begin to squint from remembering such a painful memory. "I said one word to him, because I know massive amounts of guilt was among him, along with massive pain. 'Why?' He burst into tears, pitifully, on the ground and said exactly what you said. 'I just really needed it.' He died only a few seconds after that. I've despised skooma and I havent trusted anyone outside of my family ever since."

Hildir continued to look at me, waiting for my point.

"Hildir, I cried about that for a very long time, but my family told me that I had to simply get over it. Life goes on, and you have to live with what you've dealt with, and deal with what you live with."

"Besides." I moved her hair out of her face. "At least you've got somewhere to go now."

She wiped her own face dry and nodded. She hung her head again, staring the floor for a few seconds, but I assumed she was sucking it up.

"I understand this is a lot to take in. But things can go awry in life, there's no telling what can happen. You just happened to make acquaintance with me, that's all. I mean, would you rather be out catering to men's desires for skooma again?"

She nodded again. "Good point."

"Just relax, quit your crying and suck it up, because really, that's all you can do; and crying is not getting you anywhere."

"That's true." She looked back at me.

We stared at each other for a moment then got back to the subject.

"Right, so here's the money for your room in the hopefully existent inn." I said.

"It's okay." Hildir replied.

I raised a brow.

"I'll just light the fireplace and sleep near it."

"Are you sure?" I responded.

She nodded and searched for a tinderbox.

"Well... alright, goodnight." I responded, slightly concerned.

We took to our rest and slept until the next day began.


	4. The Ragged Flagon

I emerged from sleep, groggy and drowsy, hearing a woman's voice. Trying to find out where the voice was coming from, I slowly move out of my bey and move downstairs, to investigate. I found Hildir, sitting at the fire, asleep on a reclining chair. Learning that it wasn't her, I continued to hear the female voice.

It was more clear in it's words than it was before. "You must not lose sight of it, boy."

After hearing that, I had felt something come over me. I had no idea what it was, but it definitely wasn't anything natural. I walked to the door and opened it, going outside of my home, half-naked. I had no control over my body at all, so whatever was happening, It was clear that it was magical. I struggle to regain control over myself, sitting outside of my door in the chilly plank side of Riften.

As I struggled, the voice became louder and more ordering than it was before. "Heed my words, Son of Dar'Jo."

I wondered how exactly the voice knew my father's name.

"You will not lose track of the tome." The voice directed.

My body was forced outside next door to the locksmith. I opened the door, with no problem- It was unlocked for some reason. As I still fight whatever dark magics have come over me, I struggle down the house to a crate in a corner, panicking for many different reasons. With that happening, the voice is perfectly clear now, as if she were right near me, speaking to me.

"The tome is your goal, not the guild. I command you!"

I opened the crate, uncovering the package I delivered to Walks-In-Shadows. I picked it up against my will and uncovered it's bindings.

The voice spoke to me one last time. "You will take hold of the tome."

As I unbounded it, I woke up from my bed with a shout, breathing heavily and looking around as well. I presumed it was simply a dream. The dream felt incredibly vivid and real though.

Hildir's voice called from downstairs,"Ly'ro? Was that you yelling?"

"Sorry about that..." I replied, still breathing somewhat heavily.

"Well, what time is it? I can see daylight cracked through the door." Hildir said.

I slowly and unsteadily wriggled out of my bed, and reached my clothing to find my watch.

"It's half past 9." I read.

"Well then, I'm prepared to do whatever it is we're supposed to be doing."

I put on my lower appendage of guild armor, otherwise known as my pants, grabbed my bottled water, and slowly walked down stairs, still groggy from the dream I had. I saw hildir, waiting for me patiently, sitting at the fire still.

Hildir looked at me with fright, and said, "Oh!"

"What?" I said, confused.

"Can you please put a shirt on?" Hildir replied.

I gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm sorry, i'm not around men alot." She replied in an apologetic manner.

Knocking was coming from the door, soon afterward. I assumed it was walks-in-shadows. I would be as enthusiastic as I were yesterday, but my previous mood was ruined, and i was still thinking about the dream I had. I unlocked the door and opened it, and it was none of the sort. It was another khajiit, a female, slightly taller than me, in guild armor with it's upper jacket unbuttoned, carrying two menacing katanas at her back. It was my sister, Sharia.

I look at her wide-eyed. "Oh... Hey, sharia."

"Hello, young sibling." She puts her hands on her hips and raises a brow. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

I silently move out of her way, and she enters the house and closes the door behind herself.

She looks around the canal house. "Hm. Father gave you the canal house."

She looks at Hildir, and then looks at me with a brow raised. "Sleeping around, are we?"

Hildir makes a disgusted look.

"She's my companion, you fool." I reply, annoyed at her fast conclusions.

"Really? I thought you were racist towards nords." Sharia replied.

Hildir raises her eyebrow at me.

I quickly change the subject. "I am, now why are you here?"

She notices how I tried to get to the point and smiles at me."I can't congratulate my younger brother for finally making it to the guild?"

"Well, thanks." I replied.

"You're welcome, now get your clothes on, we need to go to the headquarters." Sharia said.

"Alright, but does Hildir come with me, or not?"

She approaches Hildir, and inspects her: She looks her up and down, walks around her eyeing her, and takes note of her scent.

She comes back to me, replying,"She can come with us." She opens the door, prepared to leave.

I grabbed my gear, re-equiped my cuirass, and left the house with Sharia and Hildir. We entered the ratway, the system under Riften. I wanted to say it was the sewers, but it seemed too much like a cave system for me to call it that; Torch sconces were placed across the walls through the dank tunnels we traversed, and echos of voices were heard in the distance. Of course, Hildir was slightly shuddering. We followed Sharia's lead through the gritty and musty tunnels for at least five minutes until we approached a door. Sharia looked at both of us and said,"Here we are." Afterwards, She opened the door and revealed the center to us.

I was surprised. One thing I noticed is how populated it was: There were at least 7 peddlers selling their wares to surrounding guild mates, lowlives, and other ne'er-do-wells. There were small burrows in the walls to store shop counters for various shops. One burrow actually had a smithing forge with it's own blacksmith selling various steel weaponry. The headquarters was surprisingly stylish as well; Drapes were placed among the burrows with various signs indicating what the shops sell and produce.

When Hildir and I were sightseeing, Sharia brought attention back to her. "Stop looking around, and follow me, you tourists."

As we walked, Many guild members and peddlers were staring at me, in particular. I assumed they knew the bosses son was coming eventually.

While we continued down the base of operations, I decided to ask Sharia a question. "Sharia, is father here?"

"No." She replied.

I sighed. "Of course.", I said sarcastically and shook my head.

Sharia stopped moving and eyed me. "What in oblivion is that supposed to mean?" Sharia replied with aggression.

"Are you kidding me?" I began to raise my voice. "I'm finally in the guild after five years worth of training and he didn't even show up to congratulate me!"

"Father is in bruma, outside of skyrim, you mangy puss! He cant be here to congratulate you!" Sharia shouted back, attracting more attention than we already had.

Hildir took a step back.

"So what? He knows damn well i'm here, and he's never around for any of my problems or accomplishments anyway!" I said, venting some of my pent up anger against my distant father.

Sharia, realizing that I'm doing just that, sets her voice back to normal, and replies,"I see you still have massive daddy issues." In a sarcastic, angry manner.

"I see you're still a massive, tail-kissing, daddy's girl." I said with just as much anger and sarcasm.

Hildir attempted to break us up."Um, Ly'ro? Sharia?"

We both look at her, only to notice Hildir is standing next to Walks-in-shadows, and they're both silently staring at us, along with the majority of the people in the area. We didnt realize how quiet it had gotten until we stopped yelling at each other.

Walk-in-shadows spoke after a few more seconds of glaring and silence."Are you done?"

We both nodded.

"Good, now lets go to the guild hall for your first, real assignments."

After a few moments of calming, We had went to the other section of the headquarters, the guild hall. The guild hall contained the training room, the the sleeping quarters for the guildmates, the guildmasters desk, a large statue of some woman in skimpy robes, and a secret entrance that comes from the graveyard in Riften. We had moved over to the guild master's desk for my jobs. Walks-in-shadows pulled three envelopes from the desk, and handed me them.

After handing them to me, he said,"Those are your three assignments. Turn them all in, and claim your coin within a week or else the jobs have expired."

I nodded, and as I did, I noticed the package I delivered sitting on the desk. Remembering it along with the dream, I wanted to know what it was for.

"By the way, what is that package for?" I said, while pointing at the object.

"If I wanted you to know, I wouldnt have it wrapped in bonds, don't you think?" Shadows sarcastically replied as he passed 3 envelopes to Sharia.

"Yeah, my mother said the exact same thing, but I was just curious about what the tome is for."

Shadows eyed me with surprise, and afterwards anger,"How did you know that there was a tome in this?"

He and Sharia began to stare at me silently.

"I... listen I didnt open it, I swear!" I replied quickly.

"Oh?" Shadows said with a brow raised. He began to look at me expectantly.

"Look, I know you arent going to believe this, but..." I sighed. "I had this weird dream, where I heard this woman's voice, and it told me that I'm supposed to focus on the tome and not the guild, and i'm not supposed to lose track of it."

"Really?" Shadows said, interested.

"Yes." I replied with seriousness.

He stopped for a moment and stared at the statue of that skimpily dressed woman. He then turned back to me and said,"I believe you."

Sharia was shocked for some reason. "Are you kidding me? Do you really think Nocturnal wants Ly'ro? He's too young!" Sharia said, while staring at shadows, surprised.

I raised a brow, completely confused."Wait, what?"

"Ly'ro, you and your friend are dismissed.", Shadows said.

I pleaded,"But, what are you talking abou-"

"Dismissed." He said again in a more commanding fashion.

With my curiousity denied, I grumpily leave the guild Headquarters from the secret entrance.

As we leave from the graveyard, I get to business with my yet-to-be-useful companion,"Alright, Hildir, what do you need to do your thing?"

"Oh!" She was surprised I had spoken to her. "Well, I need rolls of paper, Feathers and magical inks."

"Where do we get those, and how much do they cost?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but I can walk around town, and write a list of what I need." She replied.

"Alright, then." I separated myself from her. "I'm gonna get these jobs taken care of, you get what you need."

I tossed her my entire coinpurse.

She frowned slightly. "Oh, okay."

I walked off, but then stopped and turned back to her. "Oh, and Hildir..."

She looked at me expectantly.

"Don't blow that on skooma." I said.

She looked at me angrily.

I laughed. "I'm just kidding."

We both went our separate ways for the day after that.


	5. Shooing a hound

Around the end of the day, Hildir was sitting in the a chair at the bee and barb inn after writing down her list of items she needs. She was shivering slightly, due to her bare knowledge of her surroundings, along with the people sitting in the other tables. Additionally, there was a wood elf man, in guild armor, at least 3 years older than her, staring directly at her with a flirty smile on his face.

The innkeeper's husband, an argonian named Talen-Jei, approached her with servitude. "Need something?"

Hildir nodded. "Do you know where I can get alchemical ingredients nearby?"

"Ah, a newcomer, are we?" Talen-Jei said.

Hildir nodded again."Yes, I'm looking to stay here for a while."

"You've picked the wrong place to stay, Good lady. You look far too nice and young to be in a place like this." Talen replied.

Hildir smiled "Beggars can't be choosers."

Talen nodded. "Oh, I understand."

The innkeeper, who Hildir assumed was Talen's wife, called him.

"Well, back to work. Let me know when, or if you need a room." Talen left her sitting alone again, only to have the wood elf man who was staring at her walk up to her slowly.

The man was polite with his voice and words, despite his somewhat grungy appearance."Hello there. I believe I recall seeing you back at the headquarters with Sharia and her brother. My name's Silvan."

She ignored his existence, continuing to Write on her list.

He raised an eyebrow and grinned."Playing hard to get already?"

She picked up her list, got up from the table, walked right by him without even an acknowledgement of his person, and left the inn.

Of course, he followed.

As she walked out back to the canal house, the wood elf, Silvan said,"I know where you're from!"

She stopped, and turned around to look at him.

"You're the daughter of the master scripturist back in Cyrodiil, are you not?"

She looked at him with slight interest. "Who are you?" She said.

"Yes, I remember you." He approached her slowly.

"I was in Cyrodiil a few years back; commoners would talk about you quite a lot, saying you were a few bad things."

Her facial expression turned serious. "Oh?"

"Yes, ma'am." Silvan nodded. "Things such as a dirty blood, a murderer, a seducer, a thief, and more." Silvan got closer to her. "But that's not important." He looked at her, with a smile on his face."What's important is that I quite fancy you, my darling."

She attempted to continue ignoring him and moving on, but Silvan grabbed her by the arm.

"Still playing hard to get? Seriously?" Silvan said, struggling to keep hold of Hildir in place.

"Silvan." A voice had been shouted from a few feet within the town. Sharia appeared, walking towards their direction, in a composed manner. "This girl isn't one of your easy beddings, you pathetic womanizer."

Silvan grew angry very quickly, almost as if he had been scolded by her before. "You stupid cat! I'll do as I please!", He shouted, attracting attention from guards and townsfolk alike. He grabbed Hildir by the hip.

Sharia put her hands on her sheathed katana's at her back, but just then, A guard appeared.

"All right, all right, let the girl go about her day." The guard said.

But just as the guard said that, Hildir's right hand began to glow bright blue. As soon as Silvan noticed the light near him, a bolt of electricity hurled out of Hildir's hand to Silvan's stomach at point-blank range. It was at that point where Silvan flew with a scream, at least 5 feet away from her, hitting a building wall. By then, A moderate amount of the town was staring at the situation, As Silvan's body was laying against the wall with a massive hole in his guild armor, and a massive burn mark on his abdomen. Hildir approached Silvan, looking down to him in anger.

"Will you pester me again?" Hildir said, with subtle aggression.

"No!" Silvan shouted, clutching his stomach. He then, in great amounts of pain, glared at the guard, assuming she would be arrested for assault.

The guard looked back at him, baffled at his implication. "What are you looking at me for? Everyone saw what happened; You asked for it."

"Oh, come on!" Silvan said, beating his hand against the ground.

Sharia looked at Hildir, surprised at her "explosive" methods of self-defense.

She walked away silently back to the canal house, thus the entire situation ended, and all the civilians watching in the background went back to their daily lives.

Sharia looked back at Silvan. "Oh, and Silvan."

He looked up to her, still in pain."What?"

"Don't even think of trying to get revenge on her." She crossed her arms. "She's my brother's property; and it's quite unwise to mess with your bosses son, wouldn't you say?"

"Just..." Silvan got angrier. "Just go away!"

Sharia nodded. "Very well, I'll leave you at your pitiful state."

Hildir walked back to the canal house, and closed the door behind herself, but as she did Sharia appeared and stopped it from shutting.

Hildir looked at sharia with an eyebrow raised.

"Mind if I come in?" Sharia asked, surprisingly politely.

They both entered the canal house and of course, locked the door shut.

Hildir sat back on the same recliner chair near the fireplace, lost in thought.

Sharia leaned on a wall near her and began speaking to her. "You did a good job, showing you aren't to be trifled with."

Hildir was silent, still lost in thought.

"What's wrong?" Sharia asked, somewhat worried.

She continued to sit silently, but then she removed herself from her chair and tried to put herself in a cheery manner. "I'm fine!" She said, in an attemptedly positive fashion.

Sharia nodded, slowly.

"So, Sharia right?" Hildir said.

Sharia nodded again.

"You and your brother don't sound like khajiit." Hildir said with curiosity.

"Well, Our family was born in Skyrim." Sharia's ears twitched slightly. "When you're born in a foreign province, you adapt to your surroundings."

"I understand." Hildir replied. Another question came to her mind. "So, your brother Ly'ro..."

"What of him?" Sharia said.

"He tries to act like a cold, detached bastard, but that's not the case at all, is it?" Hildir said bluntly.

Sharia laughed. "Oh yeah, he is entirely tender-hearted."

Hildir laughed with her."Well, it's not difficult to distinguish." She began to speak in a more serious tone. "Really though, he seems to be a nice guy, I think."

Sharia nodded. "Perhaps, but don't think that so all the time, he's still a thief, and a public enemy to the people."

"I don't care, to be honest. I hate people." Hildir said with a disturbing amount of normality.

Sharia raised a brow. "You must have been through a lot to say that." She crossed her arms. "You kind of remind me of my Ly'ro, now that you mention it."

"Oh?" Hildir asked.

"Yes, but I know what Ly'ro was been through. That being said, I'm wondering why he would help a nord." Sharia said with interest.

"He said he was racist towards nords, right?" Hildir asked.

"Yes, he's had some... trouble with nords as a cub." Sharia said, with grief.

"I see. Well, he said I reminded him of someone he used care about a lot when he was a child, I forget his name, however."

Sharia snapped her fingers. "Oh, Ma'arda?"

"Yes. He said he had a small crush on him too, but then I heard he betrayed him." Hildir said.

Sharia nodded and looked down. "Yes, He was pretty devastated when he figured it out."

"Oh, and I heard you and your father killed a whole dozen of pirates to save him." Hildir said, impressed.

Sharia laughed. "Oh no, we had brought at least 5 talented mercenaries to fight for us." Sharia attempted to change the subject. "But let's not talk about that."

"Okay, what do you wish to talk about?", Hildir asked.

"Hildir, how do you feel about Ly'ro?" Sharia asked.

"What do you mean?" Hildir asked with confusion.

Sharia began to smile. "You know what I mean."

Hildir developed an annoyed look, as well as a stare, implying that she said something foolish.

Sharia laughed. "What? You've no interest in khajiit?"

"I've known him for a day and a half, Sharia." She said, in an irritated fashion.

"Just asking." Sharia said.

As Sharia said that, they both heard the lock on the door produce some unlocking sounds. The door opened, and I appeared, just finished with "work".

"Done!" I said, carrying three large pouches of gold.

Sharia's mind was apparently blown by my swift accomplishments."Already?!" She said, with shock.

"Yeah, Walks-in-Shadows said the same thing.", I said with confidence. I tossed a pouch of gold over to Hildir. "That should have 500 gold in there; It'll pay for your expenses, right?"

Hildir nodded. "I assume so."

"Alright, how were you while I was gone?" I asked Hildir.

Sharia cut in,"She was getting drooled over by one of our guild-mates and he went too far, so she knocked his sorry hide into a wall with some type of destruction spell."

I nodded at Hildir, impressed. I then asked Sharia, "What does he look like, and what's his name?"

"He's a wood elf, and his name is Silvan." Sharia said.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said with a somewhat threatening voice. I then yawned and stretched, for it was getting late, and I just finished work. "Anyway, I'm getting sort of tired, so I'm going to go to sleep; You two keep conversing."

Sharia stopped me from going upstairs. "Ly'ro, actually..."

I looked back at her. "What is it?"

"Me and Shadows have been talking, and apparently, Nocturnal wants you."

"Who?" I said with confusion.

Hildir cut in. "The daedric princess?"

Sharia nodded at Hildir. She then opened her already unbuttoned jacket and pulled a tome out of it. Without a doubt, it must have been the tome I remember the voice speaking of from my dream. She handed it to me and said, "That was more than a dream, which I'm sure you know by now." She cleared her throat and continued,"Nocturnal wants you to become a nightingale in order to defeat the menace us thieves have to deal with."

I sat silently for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, so when do I become this... nightingale thing?"

"In time." Sharia said, with wisdom. " For now, just hang on to that tome and read it from time to time."

I opened the book to the first page and read it. I scratched my head. "I can't read these letters!"

She walked to the door, and left the house, without another word.

"What the hell..." I said, completely confused.

Hildir attempted to help. "Perhaps you should just sleep on it, Ly'ro."

I sighed, nodded, and then went to sleep.


	6. Revelations of the stray

It had been two weeks since I had been given the tome, and As I've been doing my bulgary assignments for the thieves guild, The tome's words have been becoming eligible. The words didn't change shape or anything, I can just read some parts of it now, it was hard to explain. It was clearly some form of magic. I wanted to know what a nightingale was, along with who this Nocturnal person was, but I haven't seen my sister ever since she gave me the tome. As I ponder to myself, I completely forget that I'm sitting in the inn, eating with Hildir.

As she continues to eat, she notices my muse. "Hey, Ly'ro." Hildir said.

"Oh, yes?" I said, hoping I wasn't daydreaming while she was speaking to me.

"You're wondering who Nocturnal is still, right?" Hildir asked.

"Oh, yeah! You know the person?" I asked.

"Yes.", Hildir said, while eating a piece of salmon.

I looked at her, expectantly.

"Nocturnal is the daedric prince of night, darkness, and luck." She drank some of her juniper berry juice."She is commonly worshiped by thieves and assassins; I stu2died daedric princes, old oblivion gates, and so on back in Cyrodiil."

"Interesting." I said. "Well, what's a nightingale?" I asked.

"I don't know what that is, actually. I would assume they're the ones that give their soul to the daedric prince in order to gain power, because all daedric princes have those, if i'm not wrong."

I looked to myself, in fright.

"Don't worry Ly'ro." Hildir said.

"It's difficult not to... I was just getting used to living in this dump of a town; Now this?" I said with grief and slight panic.

"Ly'ro, I'm not totally sure whether that part is right, just relax." Hildir ate some more, and continued. "Since we're on the subject, how is that book Sharia gave you been?"

"Oh." I stopped to think about it. "It's been making me feel... powerful." I said with disturbance.

Hildir raised an eyebrow, while chewing her food.

"Well, as I've been doing..." I obviously didn't want to publicize my crimes, so I stopped, and tried using a more vague terminology. "As I've been doing more 'work', I've slowly been feeling more and more... potent in my skills. Like, I feel as if I can just be invisible in broad daylight at will."

Hildir looked at me while she was still eating, intrigued.

"It's hard to explain." I stopped to pay my bills for the food and continued. "I also feel sort of empowered in another way too; I feel this... Aura around me."

"Magicka." Hildir said, while finishing her food.

"Oh, is that what being magical feels like? Because it's quite annoying. My fur has been standing on end for the past few days." I said, with irritation.

"You have too much within you; You need to release some of it." Hildir said.

"But, I don't know any spells." I said.

"I can teach you a some illusion magic." Hildir said.

"Wait, I thought you said you were just a scripturist." I said, with suspicion of deceit.

"I said my father was a master scripturist, nothing more." Hildir said.

I squint my eyes at her and say, "Just when I thought I could trust you."

"Sorry, but I'm not this dumb, innocent person you thought me to be." Hildir said, with sass.

I continued to stare.

She sighed. "Listen, I didn't know what was okay for me to tell you and what was not. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Then tell me everything, now." I said with all seriousness.

She removed herself from the table, and waved at me to follow her.

We left the inn, and went outside of Riften, to it's outside walls. We past the walls and ended in the middle of the beautiful forest that resides in the rift, a nice change of sights, considering the fact that I was sitting in a rundown town of thieves and lowlives for about two-or-so weeks.

We stood at least 3 feet away from each other, looking at one another in almost complete silence, aside from distant voices from town and the sounds of the woods.

Hildir looked at me with honest eyes, but after what she said before, I couldn't trust her. She asked,"What do you want to know?"

"Who are you, Where are you from, Why are you in Skyrim, and What skills do you posses?" I asked.

"My name is Hildir. I'm from Cyrodiil. I'm in Skyrim because I'm an outlaw for murder."

My eyes widened. "Who did you murder, Why did you do it, and How?"

"The one I killed was an instructor in Cyrodiil's Arcane University. I killed him because he refused to allow me to take my father's position as master scripturist in the university when I would grow older. My mother had no magic potential within her, so my blood was... 'tainted' to him, along with the majority of the snobby nobles among the university. I killed him by replacing a scroll he was supposed to read with a scroll that would explode in flames once read."

"How do I know you won't do the same to me?" I asked with a hard, interrogative stare.

"Ly'ro, You've done nothing but help and tolerate me this entire time! Why would I do harm to you?" She asked, insulted by my questioning.

I stopped for a moment and thought to myself for a few seconds. Afterwards, I nodded slowly, gathering all of the information she gave me and changed the subject. "Continue." I waved. "Your skills."

Hildir elaborated. "I know a little bit of everything from all spell trees. I assume you want to know illusion magics, right?"

"I guess.", I said with indecision.

She retrieved a scroll from the pouch on her belt, approached me, and handed it to me. "Read it; It will teach you how to the touch spell, charm."

"I've never heard of that spell." I said in confusion.

"Cyrodiilian magic." She began to ramble slightly. These are far, far better than Skyrim magics. Skyrim magic is simply used to rend flesh and break bones. Nothing more." She returned to the subject. "Anyway, this spell should help you persuade people easier."

I unwrapped the scroll and read it. The words glowed a lime green as I read them.

Hildir explained,"The words will make no legible sense, like with the tome, but keep reading."

I felt as if I was gaining knowledge, as I read the incomprehensible words from line to line. My eyes began to itch slightly as I read it as well. When I finished reading, the words faded away and the scroll turned blank.

Hildir took the scroll from me, wrapped it back up and but it back in her pouch. "Congratulations, you've learned your first spell." She continued. "It's hard to explain how to cast a spell; It's almost like explaining how you move your body, or blink. You simply just do it."

I nodded and looked at my hands. "So the tome works just like a scroll.", I said with discovery.

"Reading any type of magical rune works like that, Ly'ro." Hildir replied. "Now, you have to find someone to test it on."

"I've already got an idea." I said with confidence.

I returned to the center of Riften, in it's marketing area, with Hildir following me. I entered the area and began to look around.

"Who are you looking for?", Hildir asked.

"Just hush for a moment." I continued to look around until I found a guard with a familiar face. When I found him, I approached him. He looked at me expectantly.

"Hey!" I said with an honest greeting.

"I'm still waiting for my money." The guard said with great irritation.

"Yes, you are. And about that..." I said.

He raised a brow. "What of it?"

"Can you just look the other way with what happened that night?" I asked, with sincerity.

He quickly changed his tone from irritated to serious. "Not a chance. Not for what you did."

I tried to channel my magicka for a moment. I thought I could feel it within me, so I tried to "transfer" it into my hand. As I did, I put my hand on the guard's shoulder, in a manner that makes it seem as if I trying to help him understand me.

"C'mon, you can't overlook that at all?" I said while firmly holding his shoulder.

He stood silent for a moment, and afterward, his stern expression turned into a normal and composed manner. "Fine. Just get out of here, and don't let me catch you again." He slapped my hand of his shoulder and moved along.

I grinned in the feeling of success.

"You... You're a natural." Hildir said in the background, Baffled at my accomplishments.

I turned to her with my grin still intact. "It was actually pretty easy when I tried it out." , I said.

"I know, it was like that for me as well, but I've never seen anyone able to utilize it so quickly." Hildir said, fascinated.

As She said that, a courier appeared, and approached me with haste. "You there! I have a message for you. Your hands only.", He said, while catching his breath.

"Oh?" I said with curiosity.

"Yes, two messages actually." He replied. "Let's see here..." He retrieved two envelopes from his backpack, and handed them to me. "Looks like that's it. Got to go." He ran off to whatever destination he had next.

"Well, I wonder who these are from?" I said to Hildir, but mostly to myself. I opened the first envelope. "This one is from Sharia." I said with seriousness.

"What's the matter?" Hildir asked.

"It says I have to go to Windhelm and bring you, and to make sure I've brought the tome." I said, confused.

"Well, I can take care of myself, just to let you know." Hildir said, reassuringly.

"It has to be important, considering the specifics." I said once again, to Hildir, but mostly myself.

"What's in the second envelope?" Hildir asked.

I unfolded the second envelope and unraveled a piece of mail from my mother. My ears stood on end, learning who the recipient was. I folded it back silently.

"Who was it from?" Hildir asked.

"My mother, Don't worry about it." I replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Anyway, when are we leaving to Windhelm?" Hildir asked.

"Tomorrow." I replied, returning to the house.

We had both returned to the canal house to sleep until the next day.


	7. Preparations

We took the carriage first thing in the morning to Windhelm. It was a very cold place; Colder than Skyrim's average temperatures, which is definitely saying something. Neither of us realized how freezing cold it would be up here, so we took to our objective as fast as we could. The note in detail said to head to the inn and find Sharia, so we rushed there. We entered and hustled toward the nearest fireplace, in attempts to warm up, of course.

Upon sitting there, I get a bearing of my surroundings better. This Inn alone made Riften look like a slum; Silk drapes were hanging from the clean stone walls, the inkeeper was dressed in fine, warm clothes, untouched by the snow of the outside, the inn was populated with many nords, from somewhat welcoming and friendly, to brutish and burly.

I imagined what riches lied here and my mouth watered slightly. I had no idea why; Ive never craved valuables this much. I assumed it was because of the recent buglary jobs I had been given, or perhaps it's the tome. Hildir touched my shoulder and grabbed my attention. She pointed at Sharia staring at us from a few feet away. She was properly dressed for the cold, unlike Hildir and I. She apporached us, slowly, with a very serious expression.

She only said, "Follow me." And proceeded outside of the inn, back into the cold. She quickly walked us across the frosted city, to a hidden hatch, just behind a general store in the district of dark elves. We entered, and ended up in a small cave, ridden with more frost along with some small icicles. I assumed it was a guild outpost, or just a simple hiding spot for whatever our purpose was here. We traversed down the cave, to find a small outstation, with preset bedrolls, a lit campire, some paper rolls, boxes, and more. We also saw three more guildmates, one of which Hildir and I are already familiar with.

Sharia began to elaborate. "This is a very important job, Ly'ro; A job that requires alot of men."

One of the guildmates, a large, male, and somewhat burly khajiit, spoke over Sharia. "Ah, the thief prince! It's about time I got to see you." He crossed his muscular arms, and his whiskers twitched. "You're quite tough tough looking, for a young cub." He said with estimation.

I stared at him for a moment and smiled. While I took the time to look at him more, I noticed he wasnt that bad looking; He was "enticing" to me."Thanks alot... You're pretty strong looking yourself." I said in a growingly nervous manner.

Hildir gave me an odd look.

"Small talk is for later." Sharia said, highly agitated by the large khajiit cutting her off. She cleared her throat and continued,"As I was saying, we're here on a job to infiltrate the palace of kings."

Hildir spoke."Why is this?"

"We need to retrieve a letter from the Jarl's quarters, which should be a transfer order for specifc guards." Sharia replied.

"I have a feeling you aren't telling me the bigger picture here." I said, with suspicion.

Sharia sighed. "I guess you should know everything now." She crossed her arms.

I stared patiently, waiting for a response.

"There is a warrior, that calls himself The White Knight. He's basically a self-justified vigilante. But this is no ordinary vigilante; He's very powerful.", Sharia explained.

"How powerful?" I asked.

"Ly'ro, this is the man that single-handedly killed off the entire dark brotherhood, ten years ago." Sharia said with some fear.

My eyes widened.

Sharia continued. "And he's planning on attacking the thieves guild very soon."

"We cant let him do that!" I reacted in anger.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to let him; That's why we're here today." Sharia said, attempting to relieve me.

"In that case, lets get started! How are we getting inside the palace then?" I asked with confidence and enthusiasm.

"Slow down. Our operation is obviously planned out. First, Meet your companions for this major assignment."

She pointed at the large khajiit that I was trying to flirt with."The big cat that you were just drooling over here, is Renandra."

He put his hands on his hips in a posing manner, and nodded at me with a smile.

"He'll be here for for his strength, of course." Sharia said.

I nodded and focused on the other two guild-mates; A high elf and a wood elf.

She pointed at the high elf. "This, is Morina; She'll provide us with magical assistance."

I gazed at her with great interest; She was wearing dark cloth robes, with the guild symbol on her chest area. She was clearly a spellcaster, but one affiliated with the guild, which I wasn't expecting at all. She stands, with her arms crossed, with a slightly dulled expression. She didn't even look at me with any significance; I assumed she must have been some snobby girl, or something.

She then pointed at the last guildmate."This is our third operative, Silvan. He'll be guarding during the operation."

He looked at me with slight anger, some challenge, and some fear.

Hildir didn't bother to look at him.

"I think you know that were already acquainted." I said, sarcastically.

Sharia nodded. " I assumed so, I was simply making sure. Anyway, We'll be staying down here until midnight because the operation doesn't begin until then, so get set up here for time spending and what-not." She then looked at Hildir. " You're very important for this mission as well, Hildir."

Hildir was surprised, and responded,"Really?".

She nodded. "Yes, I brought many magical inks, papers, and so on so you can make a few specific scrolls." She waved. "Come with me."

Hildir separated from me and followed Sharia to a small table aside from the bedrolls.

I looked at her as she did that, feeling slightly deatched that she had to split from me.

Renandra approached me and looked at me with a smile. "I brought some bed rolls for you and your friend, in case one of you nap for the day."

I smiled back at him, forgetting Hildir almost instantly.

He waved at me to follow him to where the bedrolls lied.

We both sat down and relaxed, after he showed me where they were.

As he did, he spoke. "You should stick around the flagon more, Renandra and the others do not see you down there unless you're taking jobs."

I nodded. "I thought I would try to keep it sort of business-oriented though, and just leave it as my workplace and nothing more." I replied, shyly.

"I understand that, but you do not even buy from any of the merchants down there. You should at least get properly acquainted with most of the guildmates. It is not every day, you get to speak with the son of your own boss."

I nodded, and the conversation grew quiet afterwards. My desire to talk to him was great, so I got a little bit closer to him. I then asked,"So, are you born in Elsweyr?"

Renandra nodded. "Yes, Renandra was born in the lush jungles of our homeland; I never actually got to see it's desert sands."

I smiled in interest. "What was it like there?"

"For me? It was difficult. When I was a mere cub, My father and mother were slain by bandits, so I had nowhere to go."

My smile turned into a frown. "Oh, Thats horrible..." I put my hand on his leg, in sympathy.

He continued. "Yes, My uncle took me to Cyrodiil, and found a relative that was in connections with the guild, and I thus, I gained a method of getting coin as I lived there and supported my uncle. I did some work in Cyrodiil, and then moved to Skyrim after getting arrested and escaping prison recently. So, here I am, hoping my uncle is still alive and well."

"What a tale." I said with interest, while rubbing his leg slightly.

He began to develop an odd look. "Uhh, you can stop doing that, no?" Renandra asked.

I nodded and removed my hand from his leg. "So, how old are you?" I asked shyly.

His facial expression continued to be somewhat disturbed. "Renandra is a year from thirty. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing." I tried to clear things up for him. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you. You're kind of..." I was too nervous to finish my sentence.

Renandra raised a brow.

"I think You're attractive." I said bluntly.

He stared at me for a brief moment, then laughed. "Renandra suggests that you should be more careful with your words, Thief prince. I could use what you just said as leverage to use you for alot of things." He said, threateningly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I said defensively.

Renandra explained. "I'm not threatening you, I'm just suggesting you watch your words around certain people, especially ones who desire nothing but valuables and coin. Understand?"

"I get it, you seemed like a nice guy though." I said with honesty.

"Well, remember to keep it business oriented at first glance, just as you mentioned regarding the flagon." He said, as if he were my mentor.

I nodded.

Renandra then yawned. "Anyway, I had almost no sleep last night, so Renandra will nap until midnight comes." He lied down, and nudged me with his foot, smiling. "Off with you for now."

I nodded, got up and looked at what everyone else was doing. Silvan and the high elf were speaking to one another, Sharia was reading a book while sitting in her bedroll, and Hildir was writing on scrolls, probably relevant to our major assignment.

Hildir and Sharia seemed busy, so I didn't want to bother them. I approached Silvan and the other elf as they were talking about something related to argonian wines.

I approched the high elf, primarily. "Greetings. May I have your name?", I asked with a fair greeting.

She crossed her arms and looked at me with clear anger and underestimation. "You heard it already, prince."

I frowned and raised a brow, confused. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just wondering how long it will be until you leave my presence." She reacts, angrily.

Silvan chuckled slightly.

I stared, confused for a moment and then spoke,"Is it your time of the month or something?" I asked with retaliating rudeness and sarcasm.

Her anger grew. "If it werent for my magical potential, I wouldn't have to deal with you anyway!" She shouted, attracting everyone's attention.

"What the hell did I do to you?" I shouted back, baffled.

"I simply don't wish to be anywhere near you, pretentious fool!" She said, allegedly.

I gave her a massively confused stare."How do you know this? I've never even met you! Or are you actually always this stereotypical?"

Hildir and Renandra stopped what they were doing and looked at us with irritation.

Sharia spoke from the background. "She's an ignorant bitch, Ly'ro! Just ignore her!"

"Just let me do my job and I'll go my separate way when this is over!", The high elf, Morina, said with her eyes squinted.

"Fine, I'll back off!" I said, and moved to my bedroll.

I unrolled it and layed on it, only to notice Silvan standing near me, and looking at me.

I looked back at him. "What do you want?"

"Sorry about Morina... She hates anyone born into a noble family." Silvan explained.

I laughed. "My family is noble? Wow, what an idiot." I changed the subject. "I'm surprised you're still speaking to me subtley, after I basically gave you a death threat if you approached Hildir in a flirting manner again." I said, interested.

He ignored what I said."Just don't bother to converse with Morina." He then walked away from me, going back to what he was doing.

I turned from him, lied down in my bedroll, and waited for the midnight to come.


	8. - 1: Raid: The Palace of kings

I had awoken, hearing a woman's voice again. It was distant, and unclear. I get up slowly, and notice the hideout is completely empty; Hildir, Sharia, Renandra and the others, have vanished. The voice was beginning to become more and more clear, and I quickly became aware that this was a mere repitition.

"Again? What now?" I said, with a dead silence afterwards.

The voice became clear instantly, with an aggravated and angered tone. "You will speak to me with respect, mortal boy!"

Her loud and clear voice somehow brought harm to my sensitive khajiit ears. I clenched them in slight pain. "Okay, I'm sorry!"

"...Good." The voice responded, noticing my pain and submission.

There was silence for a moment.

Noticing how quiet it was, I spoke first. "So, Are you... Nocturnal? The daedric prince?" I asked with some fear.

"Yes, I am Lady Nocturnal." She said, with some form of pride.

"Have you callen upon me from my dreams to..." I shuddered in a brief silence at the thought of it. "...take my my soul from me, and make me a nightingale?"

The voice, Nocturnal firmly responded,"You already belong to me, Son of Dar'jo."

My eyes widened in fright. "What is that supposed to mean? Tell me!"

Nocturnal changed the subject. "I have called you in your sleep for business, not small talk. soon, a woman will meet you, called Karliah. She will tell you what happens next in your quest."

"Does this have to do with the White Knight?" I asked.

"Yes. Now, heed my words, and continue your mortal life." The voice faded out as it spoke. I guessed she was finished speaking.

After that, I woke up, with Sharia nudging me with her hand.

"It's time." Sharia said.

"Sharia, Nocturnal called me again." I said, while getting up from the bedroll.

"You mean, just now?" She asked.

I nodded. "She says that soon, i will meet someone, called Karliah."

"I see..." She said, analyzing the situation and nodding slowly. "Anyway, go to that crate and get your gear." She ordered.

I walked over to the crate that Renandra and Silvan were interacting with.

As I approached , I looked at what they were taking. Renandra grabbed one potion, and that was it; There was a steel greatsword sheathed at his back, so I assumed he was prepared already. Silvan grabbed Lockpicks, a probe, a wooden bow, and a quiver with about ten arrows. I figured him for an archer the first time I saw him. I took a probe, and five lockpicks. Once finished, I turned around to find Morina looking at me, with her same expression as last time she saw me. Without speaking, She handed me a bottle.

I raised a brow, Expecting an explanation from her presumed gift.

Morina explained. "Acid. Throw this at a target and it will dissolve, no matter what it is."

I looked at the bottle, paying close attention to the thick purple liquid inside. "That's amazing... How did you make this? I've never heard of this before."

"Extremely rare herbs, and extreme expertise, Thief Prince." She said, with some pride, along with some egotism.

I smiled, noticing that she wasn't shunning me off and insulting me when I was complimenting her, so I remembered that for later, In case I desired to speak to her again.

Sharia waved at us to come to her attention.

We all looked expectantly, ready to take her orders.

Sharia explained. "We're going to get into the palace using a secret entrance through the sewers. Hildir, and Morina, You're both staying here."

"Okay." Hildir responded.

Morina nodded, silently.

She turned her attention back to the rest of us."The reason why we have so many operatives for this job is because there may be possible threats within the sewers, and in the palace." She went to the exit of the outpost. "We're getting into the sewers discreetly, with an old contact of the boss. Let's get moving."

Sharia, Renandra, Silvan and I left the hideout, finally, and moved to the entrance door of a house, not far from our hideout, and still in the gray quarter of Windhelm. Sharia knocked on the door to the house. An old woman, a dark elf, appeared from the other side of the door and looked at us, as if she was expecting us. As I assumed, she was. Without a word, She opened the door for us, and we all entered, following each other's lead.

The woman handed Sharia a piece of paper with a drawing on it. She then looked at me with interest as I passed by her and spoke up as well,"Ah, it's you. You look just like your father." The woman said.

"Thanks a lot, Miss." I responded with a smile.

"The name's Niranye, and If you have anything you'd like to give to me, come see me at my stand in the market at day." She said, advertising herself as we passed by her.

I nodded at her and continued to follow Sharia and the others.

We had gone down the stairs to her house, to find a hatch. Sharia opened it, and dropped down into it, without a second thought. We all looked at the hatch, and then at each other.

"I guess I will go down first." Renandra said, and entered the hatch, slowly.

I heard a thumping noise as he dropped into it, indicating that he took the landing properly. I went in next. I did what I could to enter the same way Renandra did. I sat at the edge of it, and slipped in. I fell into an incredbly dark area; Not even my khajiit eyes could see anything.

"I can't see!" I said, in fright.

"Me niether." Renandra said, keeping his cool.

"Hang on..." Sharia said, as if she were struggling with something.

The flame of a torch appeared, coming from Sharia's hand. She looked back at us, making sure we're still near. Silvan dropped down the hatch, scanning the area, and afterwards looking back at us. Sharia, noticing we're all here, continued down the sewer system, while holding the paper Nirnaye gave her; I assumed what she gave her was a map. We all followed her, of course. We took a long walk, down the system of caves and sewage; Dank and smelly waters flow and fall through pipes and holes within walls almost all around us as we traversed through the skeever-invested undercity of Windhelm. The difference between Windhelm's sewers and Riften's, would definitely be how much water falls down here.

It came to a point to where as we manuvered through the complex, We encountered a very unique area; an enormous cavern with a ceiling that was very high above us. We had never guessed that we had gone that deep down the sewage system to find something like this, or better yet, we never something like this would be down here. We stood for a moment and marveled at the large body of water, three times as large as the "pool" area in the Ragged Flagon. We stood at a convieniently placed grouping of boulders, shaped like a bridge, to pass through the area. It was no clear and clean lake, of course; The waters were dark, gritty, and moldy, just like the everything else down here, and dirty water from the holes and pipes in the ceiling and in the walls poured into the pool, rapidly. While we all stopped and gazed at the sight, I noticed Renandra was eyeing me, more than anything else.

Noticing this, I looked back at him. "What's the matter?", I asked him.

"Where's your weapon?" He asked.

"Oh yeah..." I pulled my dagger from my sheath, on my lower back. "I almost completely forgot I had this; I haven't needed to use this, luckily."

"Father gave you that enchanted dagger he bought last year, huh?" Sharia said.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing." I said, irritated.

"It wasn't." Sharia replied.

"You've taken a life before, have you not?" Renandra asked.

"...No, actually." I said, just now realizing that fact.

"Be prepared for when you make your first kill, prince. It may be coming soon." Renandra said, warningly.

I nodded and placed my blade back in my sheath. As I did, I began to hear distant sounds of footsteps and voices, not our voices, of course.

"Does anyone else hear that?" I said, scanning the area.

"Everyone hush, and move silently." Sharia ordered.

We creeped through to the next area and discovered our source of voices and footsteps. A group of several bandits, armed with iron cuirasses and blades, were encamped in the area. They seemed set up well, as if they had been down here for a while.

One of the men looked directly at us and shouted at us. "We see you! Show yourself!"

My heart began to pound.


	9. - 2: Raid: The Palace of kings

Sharia's torch gave away our position. We walked to their camp, slowly. The bandits all approached us, surrounding us.

The largest, burliest man, a nord, armed with a deadly-looking battleaxe, spoke. "Never would've guessed we'd find visitors down here. You all must have some good gear and coin on you all..."

Anxiously and without thought, I nervously clenched the hilt of my dagger, prepared to strike at will.

"Oh! Look at this one!" He approached me, chuckling without fear.

Renandra began to clench his greatedge as well, staring the nord down.

Silvan backed up a few steps and looked at how many targets there were, prepared to use his bow.

I grew angry at his underestimation, staring him in the eye as he came to me.

"You gonna' stab me, little kitty?" He put his grimy finger in my face.

"Touch him and you will die!" Sharia shouted impulsively and unsheathed her katanas fiercely, while dropping her torch.

The bandits all readied their weapons.

I stared at him, as everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. As I look at him, I remember something my mother and father told me: "When you're in peril, always think before you act." With that recovering memory, I take a closer look at him. It was dark again, thanks to Sharia dropping her torch, but my inspections were still somewhat clear; my opposer was right in front of me, after all. The one in front of me was wearing iron armor, but a closer inspection revealed something else; He was wearing the chest plate on backwards. I studied various armors back at home and noticed that almost his entire suit of armor was equipped incorrectly. The armor itself was rusted and cracked as well, almost ancient, actually. He also looked very malnourished: While the nord was large, his abdomen was thin, and his arms(the parts that weren't covered with the armor) Were somewhat scrawny, as if he hasn't eaten anything in days, or anything good for him anyway. That's all I could collect before he decided to lift his axe, making gestures with it. That triggered Sharia to rush towards the nord, blades prepared to taste his blood. Before she got close enough to strike, I ran into her and shoved her, attempting to stop her impulsive attack.

Renandra and Silvan looked at me, confused.

"Sharia stop." I said, while holding her down. I then looked at the nord. "You guys don't even know how to use what you're armed with, do you?"

The bandits that surrounded us seemed to grow angry at me.

I looked back at all of them. They were all wearing the same worn out armors as the nord with the axe, they were also equally as malnourished.

"I can see how weak and dim you guys are when it comes to combat; I'm saving your lives." I said. "We're all trained to kill, You people clearly don't know what your doing, not to mention, you all look like starved strays." I crossed my arms and approached the nord, feigning fearlessness. "That being said, how long have you all been lost down here? Don't be afraid to answer, my sister actually needed a map of this sewer system."

One of the "bandits" in the background spoke up. "Just kill the stupid cat!"

He began to look at me, shuddering with anger, challenge, and fear.

Silvan spoke, "What the hell are you trying to do, Ly'ro?"

"Stopping any pointless deaths that may occur; These guys aren't worth our time." I said, reassuringly.

"If he has any intentions of harming you, he's more than worth my time!" Sharia said, enraged.

"You think you know me?" The bandit said, as his face turned red in anger. "I'll show you, you lil' bastard!" He lifted his axe and swung it in a horizontal motion.

It was incredibly slow through my eyes however, I'm not sure whether it was because of all the training I had, or because of his terrible combat capabilities, or maybe it's the tome. I quickly ducked, dodging his swing before he had ever even swung, and pulled my dagger out. Before I could even prepare the momentum for my strike however, one of Sharia's Katanas had already found his chest.

The nord trembled to the ground, clenching his chest wound and dropping his axe in pain. He quickly shouted, "Okay! I give up, I'm sorry!" he squealed. "We don't know how long we've been down here!" He explained, while still clutching his stab wound. "We escaped the prison of Windhelm through the sewers and ended up here, and we didn't know where to go from there!" He began to cough up his own blood.

"You think I give a damn?" Sharia responded, still enraged at his original threats.

The surrounding bandits didn't move, I presumed they were afraid of receiving the same fate as the nord did.

I looked at all the other bandits. "Submit!" I ordered them, presuming they had no morale left, or none to begin with.

They all slowly dropped their weapons.

I looked at the nord, bleeding out on the ground for a moment, with a sympathetic expression.

I then looked at Renandra. "Hey, you picked up a potion on your way out, didn't you?", I asked him.

Silvan predicted what I was going to do next. "Oh, no! You're not seriously going to save this guy, are you?" He said, massively confused.

Sharia looked at me as if I were insane.

"Just give it to me." I asked Renandra, politely.

"No. He trifled with us to begin with." He said, defensively.

I shrugged. "Fine."

The nord, took his last breath, and his life ended. The bandits, watching their presumed comrade's death, all went back to what they were doing, as if we weren't there.

"Well, anyway, lets continue to the palace." I said, pretending none of this happened.

Sharia continued to look at me as if I were a maniac. "Are you stupid?" She said, Livid at my actions.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"That man tried to kill you, and you do that? What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked, baffled and furious at the same time.

"Did you bother to look at his armor? Or even think about how they could've gone down here? Or if they were even capable of being classified as a threat?" I asked, intelligently.

She grabbed me by my chest angrily got in my face. "Next time, Kill. Don't negotiate."

She then shoved me to the ground, and continued to navigate the sewers using her map. I understood why she was so angry; She didn't want to see me get killed, but that was simply my way of handling things, so I wasn't going to change it. I got up and continued to follow her and the rest.

The remainder of the walk was silent like it was before. Sharia kept an irritated look as she navigated through the sewers. She didn't just look irritated though; She looked worried. As I continue to get glimpses of her facial expression while we move through the sewers, I progressively feel guilty of my actions, whether they were right or wrong.

I get closer to her as we traverse through the system. "Sharia... I'm really sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it... Just keep up." Sharia cut me off and said.

"Okay..." I looked down to myself, and then tried to change the subject. "Hey, mother says hi, I got a letter from her along with the one you sent me before we came to Windhel-"

"Ly'ro." Sharia said, irritated.

"Y-Yes..." I said, afraid that I was making things worse.

"Focus." She ordered.

"Sorry..." I said, realizing I did exactly as I hoped I didn't do.

"We'll talk about everything else later." She said.

We had continued to maneuver through the sewers for another five minutes until we had ended up at a hatch, a hatch to what, I wasn't sure.

"This is it, Lets go." Sharia said, and entered the hatch while putting her torch out.


	10. - 3: Raid: The Palace of kings

Sharia opened the hatch slowly, peeping out while scanning the other side of the area. She entered it, and we all followed. When I entered, I assumed we had entered the kitchen of the palace; There was a stove, a cooking pot, various chef hats, and aprons stained with spots of presumed seasonings and sauces, and there were barrels, reeking of fish and fowl within.

I focused. "So where do we go from here?" I asked quietly.

Sharia pointed at the door, the exit door, which was closed. "There are going to be two paths from this room; One hallway that goes west, another that goes east. Our scout couldn't get this far within the castle without getting held by the guard, so I don't know exactly where to go from here. That being said, we're splitting up."

We all nodded, acknowledging her command.

"Ly'ro, You're going with me to the west. Silvan and Renandra, You're going east. Now move..." Sharia ordered, still silently.

We took to the opposite sides of the hallways, Hoping to find the jarls chambers, where our goal lies. Sharia took the lead and passed through the dark hallways, avoiding any guards passing by. Her stealth was highly commendable; I analyzed her footsteps with praise, Realizing that she put time and effort into perfecting her cat-walk, no pun intended. I felt like a complete beginner, watching her nimble movements. I was agile too, sure, But not nearly as silent as her. We had prowled through the castle's dark exteriors, moving past the tired and dull looking guards, to come across a staircase, leading to a double-door, guarded by four men. We had glared at them from the shadows, contemplating our move to circumvent them.

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked.

Sharia continued to survey the guards.

I assumed she was still thinking about the next move, but something bad happened after that. A guard, looking surprised in comparison to the other guard's bored expressions, rushed in, barging through a door on the other side of the area.

The guard was breathing quite heavily. "Come quick! Intruders have been spotted in the palace!"

The guards followed him with haste as they left the door the same way the one guard came in.

"Damnit! Renandra and Silvan must have been spotted." I whispered to Sharia.

"Well, the guards are gone, so now's our chance..."She said, noticing the opportunity.

We creeped up the staircase towards the double door. Of course, the door was locked.

"I got this." I murmured to Sharia, confidently.

Sharia stood and crossed her arms, looking at me expectantly, waiting to be impressed.

I equipped my probe and lockpick and got to work on the lock. First thing I did was inspect the lock. Of course, I knew this was going to be a difficult one, this is a belonging of royals. But my inspections revealed something unexpected; This was a relatively difficult tumbler lock. No puzzle locks or anything truly extreme that I've been trained to get by. This especially surprised me, considering it was a door that was the entrance to the jarl's chambers. I guessed they never thought anyone would get this far, Or maybe I was just expecting more. I pick the lock, taking about 40 seconds, having almost no trouble.

The satisfying clicking noise, along with me slowly twisting the knob and pushing the door open caused Sharia to give me an impressed smile. I tried not to show her how much her compliment meant to me by turning the other cheek, pretending I didn't notice her doing that. She re-enters her stealth-stance and continues to creep, only I took the lead this time. Our next room had all the symptoms of the room we were looking for; a hallway that leads to 3 different rooms, the one in front of us had no door and a desk with some bookshelves were present.

"That must be it." I whispered.

We both sneaked to the end of the hall to the room with the desk, inspecting the desk, first of all.

Sharia said, "I'll search the desk, Ly'ro." and rummaged through the desk drawers, along with the papers and envelopes laid out on the desk.

while scanning the area, I paid close attention to the gold ship model, displayed on top of the bookshelf. My greed came first; I snatched it and shoved in into my pack.

"Found it." She murmured while I wasn't paying attention.

I stepped behind her to see the note. "What's it say?"

"The letter says that he's going to be transferred to Bruma, South of Falkreath." Sharia explained.

"Isn't that outside of Skyrim?" I asked.

"Yes, they must be giving him to Cyrodiil's guard so none of us can get to him." She said, predicting the government's moves.

"Right... What's so important about this guy again? He is the White Knight, isn't he?" I said, cluelessly.

Sharia explained. "Of course not... this guard just happens to have a connection with this person in some way, we just need to get to him and find out what he knows. Once we interrogate him, We can find the White Knight, and deal with him. Understand?"

I nodded.

She put the guard transfer order in her pocket, then grabbed all the envelopes and notes in the desk and put it in her backpack.

I raised a brow, confused by her actions.

"Whatever else these other messages are about, they could be worth a lot once the guild knows them all." Sharia elaborated.

I nodded and We both left the room together.

"We should go find Renandra and Silvan." I asked, attempting to be their saviors.

"No, we shouldn't; they failed to be unseen, and they will take the loss for it." Sharia replied strictly.

As sharia said that, Renandra barged in through the other door the guards rushed out of, wounded.

"Silvan... that bastard..." He murmured, while clenching his blade wounds.

"Renandra!" I approached him, trying to help him walk. "What happened?" I asked him, confused.

"It's Silvan... He..." He couldn't speak; He seemed to be in a lot of pain at the moment.

The sounds of footsteps and chatter were heard, coming closer and closer from the door Renandra barged out of.

Sharia sighed, realizing her chances of being completely undetected were over. "Just follow us!" She stood up in her normal stance.

We had ran back, retracing our footsteps to the hatch in the kitchen of the palace, with the palace guards gaining on us. I wasn't under that much pressure, we were far enough from them to make a decent getaway. We had found the kitchen door, and Renandra charged into it. He merely bounced off of it, fumbling into the ground.

I tried to open it normally. "Why won't it budge?" I twisted the knob and it opened perfectly, but the door wouldn't open.

"It must have been Silvan's doing..." Renandra said while slowly getting up.

"What? What are you talking about?" I said, still unknowing of Silvan's doings.

"He must have put something on the other side of the door, holding the door shut." Renandra explained.

I thought hard about what I could do to get to the other side while I was hearing the guard's yelling and footsteps getting closer and closer. I remembered just in the knick of time what I could do to get past this obstacle.

"Guys, stand back!" I said.

I retrieved the Acid potion Morina gave me before we ventured from my backpack, and tossed it at the door. The glass smashed and the liquid splashed on the door, dissolving and disintegrating the fine wood. the acid melts the door down, a whole shelf falls down out of the melted door. I assumed Silvan put that there to block our escape.

We had ran into the kitchen, opened the hatch and hastily slipped in, before any guards got an eye on us, Me and Sharia anyway. We had re-entered the dark, musty sewers, and Sharia lit her torch again. We ran back, retracing our footsteps, along with some map navigation.

"So, tell me the whole story, Renandra. What happened?" I asked Renandra.

"Silvan had purposefully drawn attention to me and ran away back to where he had come from..."

"Why would he set you up like that?" Sharia asked, confused.

"Well, he has been talking about getting tired of the guild for the past months..." Renandra remembered.

"Are you badly hurt?" I asked.

He had stood up straight, trying to move as if he had no harm done to him in the first place. "Renandra can manage."

We had rushed back, passing the sewer dwellers we had encountered before, quickly making it back to the hatch to the hideout. Then we had come back to the hideout to find almost everything gone, the bedrolls, the scrolls, everything. Morina was wounded, on the ground, battered and beaten. Hildir was nowhere to be seen. Noticing this, I panicked, and rushed to Morina.

"Morina, Where's Silvan and Hildir?" I asked, anxious of Hildir's fate.

"Silvan had brought some backup..." She said, slowly getting up with pain and difficulty. "He got some goons to take everything here and kidnap Hildir.

My anger and fury had arisen quickly. "That son of a bitch!" I shouted, quickly and angrily unsheathing my dagger. "I swear to the gods, I'll kill him!"

Sharia grabbed my shoulder. "Calm down."

"To Oblivion with that! I told him that If he laid a finger on her, I'd murder him!" I looked to Morina. "Morina, where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, but he and his thugs left only a few minutes ago; they couldnt have gone far." Morina explained.

Renandra offered Morina some of his potion. "Take as much as you need." He said, Graciously.

She took one sip. "You can have the rest."

Renandra drank the rest of it.

"Ly'ro, what time is it?" Sharia asked.

Silence was abroad.

"Ly'ro?" Sharia said.

I was already gone, hoping I could catch up to Silvan and his thugs before they left Windhelm.

Ignoring the cold, I rush to the gates, and running out of the entrance's bridge, leading to the stables. As I did, I noticed a bunch of wood elves, holding an awfully large sack, hauling it into a private carriage. I saw Silvan riding on the passenger seat, next to the driver. The carriage began to ride, with the passengers on board.


	11. Putting the hound down

I ran as fast as I could, in efforts to stop their carriage before they took off. I continued to chase it until it went down a road south, then I  
finally ran out of breath after sprinting furiously for about 3 minutes. I trembled to my knees in the freezing cold, winded. Powerlessly, I watched the carriage  
get away. I screamed in anger, punching the ground. I sat there on my knees, gasping for breath, worrying about Hildir, and what was going to happen to her. While I did that, I heard a voice.

"Pitiful." The voice said. It was a light, female voice, and sounded elvish.

I looked around, to all of a sudden see a woman, on a chestnut horse. A dark elf in very unique guild armor Stood before me. I was baffled at how a horserider got so close to me and I didn't hear anything.

"Get up off the ground, Requisite. You look pathetic." The woman said.

I slowly get up, still catching my breath. "Who are you?" I asked the mysterious rider.

"Nocturnal sent me here to collect you." She said.

"Oh, so you're Karliah..." I said. "Well, I could really use your help right now, It's good that you happened by."

"I'm not helping you, Requisite." She replied.

I brought up a point. "Listen, If you can help me save my companion, we can take care of this business with Nocturnal sooner than later!" I explained.

She stood silently, pondering for a moment, then sighed. "Fine." She muttered.

"Great! Let's follow the tracks from the carriage wheels!" I said.

"Wait. I'm also here to remind you that you have new words to learn within the tome." Karliah said.

"Oh." I said and retrieved the tome from my bookholder and read it. Just like all the other times, I slowly understood all the words progessively. The entire book was not available to me, of course. I closed the book and looked back at Karliah, expectantly.

"You've just learned a new spell, called Fury; a very reliable illusion technique." Karliah said.

As she said that, I did feel an aura around me like before when Hildir taught me magic. I put my mind to it and channeled my magicka to my hand, like I did when I learned the charm spell. A new red energy surged through my hands and I casted it towards the ground. The spinning ball of energy collided with the ground, fading. Noticing how the spell did nothing, I looked at Karliah, confused.

Karliah elaborated, "Cast it on any target, and they will become enraged, attacking anything and everything within their sight."

"Interesting..." I Looked at my hand while channeling energies through it. "So you will help me catch them now, right?" I asked.

She reached her arm out me to help me get on her horse. "Get on. I better not be doing all the work."

I took her arm and she helped me sit on her horse. I noticed a very impressive, beautifully designed ebony longbow held by the woman herself. She must have been an unfathomably great archer, with such a unique bow.

"Hold on tight." She said. She whipped her horse and it began to ride at a very fast pace; Much faster than me on foot, of course. We had rode down the trail at a breakneck speed, catching up to the carriage within at least five minutes.

"There it is!" I yelled, pointing at it. "Karliah, can you shoot the wheels of the carriage?" I asked.

She equipped her bow and pulled out an arrow: the arrow had an extra item on its tip, I couldn't see what it was. We got within 30 feet of the moving carriage, within the silent night. After seconds of of focus and accuracy, She took her shot; Her first shot was a direct hit, causing the wheel to break and force the carriage to slide out of control and hit a tree.

I wouldnt have guessed a mere arrow could break a wheel, perhaps the attachment she put on the arrow was some explosive. I worried if Hildir was still safe after the collision.

As the carriage crashed, she stopped her horse and we both had got off the stallion.

"We'll sneak up on them from here." Karliah muttered and ducked.

I followed along and crouched.

We creeped up on them from there, becoming capable of hearing their words.

"How did the carriage go down?" One of the thugs said.

"It doesn't matter, just hurry up and replace the wheel with a spare!" Silvan ordered while getting off the carriage.

Apparently, They never noticed us given how close we were. I continued to prowl towards them while speaking to Karliah:"Do you see the one with the guild armor?" I asked her.

"What of him?" She said.

"He's a traitor to the guild. He's trying to get away to Cyrodiil." I explained.

"Bastard..." She murmured.

"Don't kill him though; He's mine." Said, sadistically.

I charged my magicka and casted my fury spell at an unsuspecting thug, trying to repair the wagon wheel. I fired the projectile, still out of vision luckily, and glared at him, wondering if the spell effected him. After moments of pause, He stood up, glowing with a red aura around him. He then screamed maniacally, pulled out a short sword he had sheathed, and started wildly swinging at every man in sight, killing two oblivious men.

The charmed victim was finally killed by an arrow, belonging to Silvan. "Why in oblivion did he do that?" He said, Baffled at his supposed comrade's actions.

Only two men remained. The fury spell made a great first impression for me. We sneaked up closer on Silvan and the carriage driver; I formulated a plan.

"Karliah, I'm not sure if I'm asking for too much, but can you pierce Silvan in the arm?" I asked.

She nods silently, and cautiously prepares her shot.

Her bow fires, Her arrow swiftly and gracefully flies, perforating Silvan's right arm, disarming and disabling him from combat.

Silvan fell down, paralyzed, not even realizing he had been shot until he lifted his head and glimpsed at his forearm.

The carriage driver run's toward Silvan, realizing they had been under attack all along. I rushed into the driver, tackling him and knocking him unconcious with my fist. All the targets were dealt with, So I ran to the carriage and looked at the large knapsack which had something moving inside. I used my dagger to cut the sack open. A hand errupted from the bag, tearing the fabric.

Hildir emerged from the bag blindfolded, and gave me a punch to the face, not realizing who she was hitting.

I hold her hands down. "Hildir, it's me!" I shouted, and took the blindfold off of her.

"...Ly'ro?" She said, squinting and blinking as she looked up to me.

I grabbed hold of her, picked her up from out of the bag and put her on her feet.

She stared at me, holding in her tears.

I looked back at her and smiled. "Are you well?" I asked, as if nothing happened.

She then looked to herself. "Ly'ro..." She cried as she spoke. "They said they were going to turn me in to the guards in Cyrodiil to collect a bounty from me..."

"You carry a bounty? hm..." I Patted her shoulder, gently. "Well, It's okay now, Hildir. They're gone now." I said, in a relieving form. She seemed more angry then sad. That gave me an idea. I Handed her my dagger and pointed at Silvan, still lying on the ground, his arm leaking spots of blood on the snow. "You do the honors, If you wish." I said, giving her judgment.

Hildir had stared at Silvan, lying pitifully on the ground, just like her first encounter with him. With moments of thought, and glaring, She handed me back my dagger."He's not worth it. Let him bleed out." She said.

Karliah approached, unsheathed her dagger and executed the unconsious carriage driver. She grabbed a piece of his shirt, cleaned the blood off of her dagger with it, then approached us. "Are we done here?" She asked, impatiently.

"Just about." I replied.

"Good. We need to get to the Shadow stone, near Riften." She explained.

"Alright. Hildir comes with me, mind you." I Said.

"It's unwise to bring your significant other, Requisite." Karliah said, warningly.

"She's not my woman, and why do you keep calling me that?" I asked, confused at her presumed name calling.

"Because that's what you are. A requisite." She crossed her arms.

"Requisite to what, exactly?"

"The death of the White Knight, of course. I will explain everything to you soon." Karliah said.

"Hey, look..." Hildir said, and pointed at Three distant figures running towards us.

The three figures were Renandra, Sharia and Morina; They must have tracked us down with the carriage tracks. Sharia looked furious. She ran directly into me and attempted to punch me in the face. I anticipated it, and grabbed her arm, stopping her swing.

"Sharia, unwind. I did what had to be done."

She pulled her arm from me."You could've been killed, you ignorant, mentally ill..." She balled up her fist in anger.

I stared at her with a confident smile, and put my hand on her shoulder. "I can take care of myself now, Sharia."

She looked to herself.

I gave her a small hug. "I understand you're still worried about me, But you just worry for yourself, Okay?"

She silently nodded.

"Children..." Karliah murmured to herself.

I turned to her. "What was that?" I said, slightly offended.

"Nothing." She said. "Anyway, can we go now, or do you have anyone else to caress?"

I gave her a slightly annoyed look. "No, We can leave now." I said to Karliah.

"Oh, you must be Karliah." Sharia said.

"Indeed. You're the requisite's brother, correct?" Karliah asked.

She raises a brow, confused.

"She's referring to me. I, am a... Requisite, apparently..." I said.

"Well, yes." Sharia said.

"You'll come with us, as well then." Karliah responded.

"To where?" She asked.

"The Shadow Stone. It's better you know the truth of your brother as well." Karliah said.

She developed an odd look when she heard Karliah mention "the truth". "...Okay." Sharia said.

Renandra and Morina got the mess of bodies "cleaned up" and retrieved all the stolen items Silvan had taken behind our back.

Karliah, Hildir, Sharia and I voyaged back to Riften to find the Shadow stone.


	12. The Ebon Indenture

Renandra managed to get the carriage wheel repaired by himself. With the coach back to functioning condition, we had all traveled back to Riften by carriage, aside from Karliah, who already had a steed that belonged to her. It had been daytime when we had returned to Riften. We had gone around the town to the woods area and reached a boulder with an odd symbol i've never seen before.

"So, this is the Shadow stone, correct?" I asked.

"No, we just needed to get close to it. This is our real destination." Karliah revealed.

"Which is what?"

"Nightingale Hall." Karliah replied.

My heart began to pound and I took a few steps backward.

Karliah looked at me, noticing my backpeddling. "Do not turn your back on Nocturnal, Requisite. It is... Unwise." She said, warningly.

"Ly'ro, I informed you that this was going to happen; You need to do this, for the sake of the guild." Sharia added.

I continued to step backward, ignoring their words.

Hildir firmly grabbed my hand. "Whatever this is, It has to be important, Ly'ro. Just go." She said.

I looked to myself for a moment, thinking of all the dread that could ensue here. "Fine..." I said, and approached Karliah.

She waved her hand at the stone wall, opposite of the boulder. Parts of the stone wall opened, revealing a secret passage. Karliah then waved at us to follow her into the orifice. We had entered the passage, which led to a very eerie temple of presumed daedra worship.

We had slowly toured down a long hall for a few minutes, gazing at all the artifacts that were near, until we came down to the most unique area in the hall: A platform, spread to three other platforms, surrounded by an odd, teal-colored body of water.

"Stand on the platform in the middle, Requisite." Karliah ordered.

Afraid and shivering, I split from the group and slowly walk onto the said platform, alone.

Karliah walked onto the platform to the left of me. She then lifted her arms and spoke," Lady Nocturnal! I call upon you!"

My eyes widened.

The center platform began to resonante of some form of outworldly energy, and afterwards formed a great, large, orb of energy. I was shocked and fearful of what it was, and how it appeared. For a moment, I put my hands before my face in fright.

A voice came from the orb of energy."Ah, Karliah. As reliable as ever. Good work."

"Thank you, Lady Nocturnal. I have brought the Requisite. He is ready."

Impulsively, I cut into their talk. "I don't want this!" I shouted, fearfully.

"You will speak when you are caled upon, boy.", Karliah ordered, angered by my rudeness.

"No! To oblivion with this! I never asked to be this nightingale and Iose my own soul, just so I can kill some stupid self-justified warrior! I flat-out refuse to give my soul to you!" I shouted, to the resonance of energy.

There was silence. The silent moment felt like an hour, due to my heart thumping, and my body heat hotter than lava. During that moment, I was paranoid, staring at Karliah, in case she might do harm to me for speaking against her presumed god.

Karliah merely crossed her arms.

"You're already mine, Son of Dar'jo." Nocturnal said.

"Stop saying that!" I screamed, breathing heavily.

"I will explain, and you will shut your mouth, and listen." Karliah ordered.

I looked at her, anxiously and expectantly.

Hildir and Sharia were gazing in the background, worried.

"Your father, Dar'jo, was once a hero to the nightingales; he helped us slay a traitor called Mercer Frey, who had been stealing from the guild for years. But then after a few years, he feared the afterlife. I assume you already know that in order to become a nightingale, you must give the lordess your soul and you will serve her at all times in the mortal life and afterlife, in turn for immeasurable prowess in stealth, and more. Dar'jo didn't like having that thought in mind, and it constantly was, even when he developed enough money to move to Solitude, start a family, and have a daughter, named Sharia.

Sharia eyed her, wondering how she knows all this.

"He would get drunk very often, and blatantly do wrong things such as buy cheap women and skooma in order to take his mind off of what he had, according to his wife. Then At some point, he decided to research stories and notes, regarding daedric princes and more. After months of research, He then learned of something that he could use to free his soul from Nocturnal's contract."

She took a moment to clear her throat.

With tension rising, I quickly ask, "Well, what was it?"

"The Ebon Indenture." Nocturnal said.

"The Ebon what?" I asked.

Nocturnal began to explain."The Ebon Indenture is a sacred act of a mortal exchanging ethereal forms of life, with daedric princes such as myself."

"...What? I dont understand..."

"Basically, It's bartering and trading, only with souls." Nocturnal summarized.

"...Okay... what... what did my father do?" I asked, fearfully.

"Dar'jo created an ebon indenture with Nocturnal; She wanted a soul just as silent, just as cunning, and just as deadly as Dar'jo himself. You couldn't ever find anything like that in a soul gem, no matter how large it is. So, he offered something else." Karliah began to look at me with an honest, sympathetic expression. "He struck a deal with Nocturnal, saying that if he released his soul from the contract, he would give her the soul of someone equally as powerful and talented as him, at an even younger age than he. Who do you think that could be, Requisite?"

My eyes widened and My heart nearly stopped. I stared off blankly, with no thought in mind.

"Better yet, why do you think your father trained you at such a young age, with only the best trainers money could buy?" Karliah added.

Hildir and Sharia began to stare, blankly.

"The reason why you exist, why you were born, is because you're a bargaining coin for your father."

With the truth revealed, I stand with my body stagnant, my eyes still distant. I trembled to my knees, with my head hung.

Nocturnal spoke. "You have a duty now, Nightingale. The White Knight is the new threat that no nightingale has yet to defeat. Karliah will teach you everything she knows to defeat him."

The orb of energy faded.

I continued to lie on my knees in shock. I wanted to just stay like this, paralyzed and barely consious forever, but I heard the footsteps of multiple people come near me, attempting to set me back to consciousness.

I had heard Karliah's voice, "Listen... Ly'ro, is it? I'm very sorry about this." I felt what I assumed was her hand on my shoulder, trying to level with me as a person. "I am more than sympathetic, and If I ever had a child, I would never do such a hideous, disgusting thing, ever..." I felt another hand on my shoulder. "But Nocturnal is right."

I lift my head slowly with abyssmal grief. I just barely notice Hildir and Sharia staring at me, with extremely sympathetic and sad expressions. Sharia had shed her tears already, from what I saw.

Karliah lifts me up from my state. "Get up, nightingale. I understand this is hard for you, I can't imagine how you feel, but as I said, you must act."

I struggle to stand, looking to myself. "I was born into this world..." I slowly regain sanity and vision. "...Just because my father is a cowardly bastard."

Hildir and Sharia began to look at me in fright.

My sadness turned into a cold anger. "He will die." I said, heartlessly.

"Ly'ro, no! Killing him isnt going to fix anything!",Sharia shouted at me.

"Shut the hell up, Sharia. He will die."

"I swear to the eight, if you kill him, I'll never forgive you!" Sharia yelled, impulsively.

"And you think that I care. Interesting."

She ran away, out of the hall in anger and fear.

Karliah spoke, "Business before pleasure, Ly'ro; The white knight comes first."

"Fine. As long as his life ends." I said.

"I'll return next week and when I do, We'll be traveling across Skyrim, as apart of your training. Your friend can come, so long as she doesn't slow us down. Get yourself together, Ly'ro." She then left the hall, without another word.

"Ly'ro... I'm... I'm so..." Hildir uttered as Tears of sympathy began to run down her face.

With moments of thought, I spoke, "Come with me.".

Hildir followed me, worried if I might do something insane.

We left the hall and silently walked back to my canal house in Riften.

I had entered, unloaded the golden ship model I snagged back from the canal house, and placed it on the dining table. I then went upstairs, opened at my knapsack, retrieved 6 pouches of gold and placed it downstairs on the table as well.

Hildir watched me do this, confused.

I pointed at all the money and looked at Hildir. "All of this gold belongs to you now." I said.

Hildir gave me an odd look. "...What?"

"You're leaving this house with at least 4000 gold to set up something for yourself. Whether it's a shop, or a farm, I dont care. You're leaving." I elaborated.

"W-what? No, I refuse to leave!" She shouted.

"Hildir." I said, giving her a cold stare.

She looked me back, frightened by my eyes.

"I said this to you back when we first met; You do exactly as I say; No questions, No exceptions."

"I..." She paused. "...I dont care!" She shouted. "Ly'ro, we still need each other! I understand you're in massive turmoil now, but didn't you tell me that I simply needed to get over it? You said it yourself Ly'ro; We deal with what we live with and live with what we've dealt with, and things can go awry in life!

"Shut up!" I shouted, and slowly grew more and more angry at her. "Do you really think what I said can be applied to this? Are you mad?!" I asked, as if she had said something incredibly asinine.

She stopped shouting and spoke with honesty. "It doesn't matter whether it can, or cannot, Ly'ro. I'm going to stay with you because what you're facing isnt something to be taken alone."

"I've always wanted to be alone, Hildir! That's why I've barely ever spoken to you unless it was business related! You're just a tool, I've never cared for you!"

"For the love of the eight, would you stop pretending to be this heartless businessman? Because you're horrid at it!" She said, as she had the the last straw of my attitude towards her.

I viciously grabbed her by her clothing, furious at her pretensions of knowledge. "You think you know me, you nord bitch?!"

Struggling to speak as I grabbed hold of her, she uttered with difficulty, "Sharia told me how you were as a child. According to her, You had no friends, you were picked on by nords, you never had anyone to care for besides your sister and mother, and you told me yourself that the only person you trusted outside of your family betrayed you. While I can't say I know everything about you, I can say you've been through alot of pain. That kind of pain isn't something one should deal with alone, Ly'ro."

I needed a moment to comprehend her. I understood what she meant, but I was too angry to simply agree with her. I guess I just wanted to unleash my rage, or perhaps my sadness.

"Ly'ro... please let go of me. You're hurting me." She said, struggling to breathe.

I slowly let go of her. "What makes you think you can help me with my problems?" I asked, still angry.

"If you give us both time to actually get to know each other alittle bit more, rather than pretending to be this stoic burglar, you'll find out." She said, basically announcing my behavior towards her since I met her.

I look to myself, realizing that she's right about basically everything she said. "Alright." I said, letting my anger go.

Hildir continued to stare at me, worryingly.

"I need to sleep." I muttered.

"Are you going to be okay?" Hildir said, while grabbing hold of my hand.

"I'll be fine, Hildir." I muttered and swiped my hand away from hers.

I took myself to my bed and slept, barely.

I drag my body upstairs to the bed and sleep.


	13. Converse amidst the Flagon

The week had past, and Hildir and I were ready for Karliah to take us under her wing for training. It was our last day before Karliah was supposed to appear, and Nocturnal had called me in my dreams to inform us that her arrival would be in the Ragged Flagon. We were already there at the bar, sitting patiently in one of the tables.

The bartender, who I overheard was named Vekel, spoke to us. "Hey, you two gonna buy a drink or what?", He said while cleaning a mug.

I spoke for both of us, in an emotionless manner. "We don't drink."

He took a closer look at me, not realizing who I was. "Ah, if it isn't the bosses son. I heard you were initiated weeks ago."

A woman, another nord appeared, and approached us at the table. "This is the one? The bosses son? I heard you killed a traitor recently; good job."

I nodded at her. "Thanks, guild-mate."

"Vekel, a round for our khajiit?" The Nord gave him a handful of coin.

"Boy say's he doesn't drink." Vekel mentioned.

She nods, and takes her septims back. "Well, The name's Sapphire. Let me know if you need something, unless my husband is bothering me." She said, and left our presence.

We nodded at her as she left.

The bartender, Vekel, began to speak, "So, howcome you never come down here? We we're anticipating your arrival, since your father never shows up these days."

"I do, I just never come to this area, since I don't drink."

"There's plenty more to do here than just drinking, Thief prince. Haven't you seen the vendors and salesmen?"

"I'm saving my gold for a non-shabby house." I said.

He laughed. "I see, must've been a staggering change for you, coming from a mansion to a dump like here, huh?"

"Not really; My father and sister kept warning and pestering me about this since I was a cub, so I'm not really irritated by it."

"Ah, you were taught well, it seems. Anyway, let me know if you want to try out your first drink, eh?" He said while nudging my shoulder. He went back to work afterwards.

Hildir was still looking at me with a sad expression as we waited at the table.

I looked back at her slightly annoyed, but more appreciative of the fact that she was worried about me."Hildir, I'm fine. Stop staring at me like that."

"Sorry..." She looked to herself for a moment, and then looked back at me, attempting to start conversation. "So, Ly'ro... who was that khajiit you were talking to back in Windhelm?"

"Oh, Renandra? What of him?" I asked, surprised she even noticed my interactions with her.

"What is with you and him?"

"Oh, Well I just liked him alittle, that's all." I admitted, shyly.

"I figured, I guess I'm just asking because i'm surprised you had that... preference." She said, awkwardly.

"Well, You can thank Ma'arda for that; Burly khajiit men grew on me when I was a child."

"I see... So, i'm not sure if it's okay to ask you this, but... about your family..."

I was defensive about talking about my family for obvious reasons, but I wanted to open myself to her, since she said that apparently I can trust her. "Ask away, Hildir." I said, as if I wouldn't have a problem with her asking me about it.

"Do you care for your mother?" She asked.

"She means the world to me. My father and sister were never around, so she almost always talked to me personally, and she taught me everything I knew, when it wasn't about theft and stealth."

"What about your sister? " she asked.

"We're always picking on each other from time to time, but we still care for each other in the end." I answered, without a problem.

"What about... your father?" She said, speaking as if she didn't want to touch that subject, which I don't blame her for.

"...Well..." I looked to myself, drowning out my new found hatred for him in order to give my legitimate opinion of him.

During that pause, Hildir quickly spoke,"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have-"

"Relax." I said. I then spoke of my father. "He was... very distant. His general look towards me was very... emotionless and cold, and he would get angry at me very often for mostly insignificant purposes. Mother always told me he was attempting to be a scolding father, simply trying to help me be my best, but we both know why he acted that way towards me now, dont we?"

"I see..."

"I wonder if my mother is aware of the ebon indenture, or anyone else for that matter..." I pondered. I attempted to change the subject before I dwelled on the despressing parts of the topic, uncontrollably. "So Hildir, what about you?"

"Oh... what of me?"

"What of your parents?" I asked.

"Well, I never knew my mother, She died of Witbane, and my father was always busy..." She said.

I frowned in sympathy."You had no one to talk to at all?"

"Well, I had acquaintences outside of my family, however I wouldn't have called them my friends."

"I see. So, you have a bounty on your head, correct?"

"Yes, I overheard that I did after I fled Cyrodiil, So I had to make some changes to myself."

"Changes? Like what?"

"I changed my name to Hildir, and my hair color with magic."

"Really? Then what's your real name?" I asked with curiosity.

"It matters not, Ly'ro."

"Very well, I suppose you're right. Anyway, I could speak to a doyen and get that bounty cleared up for you."

She nodded, with some relief.

Walks-in-shadows and Morina appeared from the door to the cistern of the flagon. They both approached us, seeming satisfied.

Walks-in-shadows spoke first, "Ah, it is our prince and his wench, back in the fla-."

I cut him off. "Don't call her a wench, Shadows." I said, defensively and threateningly.

He looked at me, confused. "...Alright, My apologies."

Hildir held in a blushing smile, indicating that she was happy at my defending her.

Shadows resumed, "Well anyway, you did a damned good job with the palace assignment, and taking care of that backstabbing bastard Silvan, trifling with our plans."

Morina silently nodded, agreeing with what Shadows said.

We understand you'll be traveling with Karliah, so I'll be holding onto both of your payments until you two return, unless you desire otherwise."

"Hold onto it." I said stoically, speaking for both of us again. "Also, since were traveling, can you watch over my house?" I retrieved the key from my pocket and handed it to him from the table.

"Absolutely, I'll hire a guard in case someone think's its smart to mess with the guild-master's son."

"Thanks a lot." I then changed the subject. "Hey, are you familiar with..."

He raised a brow at me. "With what?"

"...The ebon indenture?"

His facial expression turned from impressed and content, to cold and compromised. He waved at Morina to go away. After Morina separated from us, he spoke, quietly. "Karliah told you, didn't she?"

I silently nodded.

"That explains why you look so blue." He murmured.

"Sharia knows too."

"That also explains her behavior from before..."

"She was here?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, A few days ago, She rushed to me, asking if your father came back to Skyrim, and then stormed out."

"Is he back in skyrim yet?"

"Yes, He's back in his home in Solitude."

"Good." I said, ominously.

"Don't do anything brash, prince. I understand your reasons for your anger, but dont forget who you're threatening."

"Whether you like it or not, When I kill the White Knight, I will be his judge, Shadows."

Shadows' words became more discreet as well as angry. "Think about what you're saying, you foolish boy! You're threatening the death of our guild-master! It doesnt matter if he's your son!"

With those words, Karliah suddenly appeared while we werent paying attention, carrying an assortment of gear, which I assume were for us. "Are you two Prepared to leave?"

We all looked at her, surprised at her sudden arrival.

"Oh, Karliah! Are you aware of what this cub desires to do after the white knight is taken care of?"

"Yes, and I don't care. I think the coward deserves it." She said.

"Are you mad? Who's going to take his position then?"

"You, perhaps. Maybe Sharia. Maybe I will." She changed the subject. "Anyway, take these backpacks. Replace them with the ones your carrying, they have survival gear on them."

She placed two brown furred backpacks, with various equipment such as torches, cooking pots, woodcutting axes, inside as well as attached to them.

We took the equipment from our backpacks and placed them in the new ones. Karliah took our old backpacks, giving them to Shadows; I guess we weren't seeing those again.

Karliah looked at Hildir. "You won't be going anywhere with such casual clothing, girl."

Hildir looked at her garments. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"It's no garb suited for travel." She looked at shadows, still angered at my threats. "Shadows, go get her some guild armor of her size."

He sighed, waved at Hildir to follow her, and they left for a moment.

I looked at Karliah expectantly and said, "So, what am I learning, exaclty? I'm already competent in thievery."

"I will be teaching you how to use your nightingale abilities, as well as archery and blade combat." She took one item from her back, A sheathed broadsword, and placed it on the table in front of me. "Give your dagger to Hildir when she returns; you're using that now."

I nodded and inspected it. Unsheathing the weapon, I notice the blade was unusual; it was a specially designed weapon with a symbol on its hilt. "Well, what is this odd sword?" I asked.

"The nightingale blade; your service weapon."

"Oh..."

"Remember the symbol of it's hilt, Ly'ro; It's the representation of our kind."

I nodded, taking note of the symbol.

"Now, Understand this; I have been tolerant of your rudeness towards the lady and I because I knew this was a lot for you to gather at first. Now that we're all acquainted with one another, I advise you speak to me and Nocturnal with upmost respect." She said in a threatening manner.

I looked to myself. "Okay..."

"You'll find that having the lady at your side is not such a bad thing. She is a scolding mother, but she only strives to make you your best. Think of her that way, because that's exactly how she is."

I slowly nodded.

Hildir and Shadows came back after fifteen more minutes of waiting. Hildir returned, walking in a slightly clumsy manner in the standard, sleeved, brown variant of the guild armor. I didn't think it was fitting for Hildir, I thought she was too... "pure" of a person to be carrying the symbolic title of a thief, ignoring her crime back in Cyrodiil.

I removed myself from the table and handed Hildir my sheathed dagger. "That's yours now, apparently."

"Oh, okay..." She took it and looked on her armor for a place to attatch it onto her new outfit. She then marveled at my blade. "Nice new weapon."

"Thanks." I softly replied.

"We're going west to of here on the road to Ivarstead. If anyone has anything else to say before we continue, Speak up." Karliah said.

We both stood silently, shaking our heads.

"Good. Let's go."

We both nodded and left the flagon.


	14. Under her shadowy wing

Karliah, Hildir and I moved from Riften to Ivarstead using the road from Lake Honrich down the Treva River. Getting used to traveling with the new weapon at my back was more difficult than I first percieved; While the blade wasn't too heavy, I was still slower than I normally was in terms of basic movement. It wasnt going to stop me from completing my training so I could kill the white knight, and then my father. Hildir seemed to be getting used to movement with the guild armor on. During the travel down the river, we stopped at some kind of abandoned fort. We entered the decrepit space, a large and open area, completely uninhabited by anything, aside from the cold winds that brushed against my fur.

"Ly'ro." Karliah ordered.

"Yes... Ma'am?" I said, awkwardly attempting to get used to acting more servile towards her.

"We will start your training here."

Following Karliah, We entered the fort and took a battered flight of stone stairs to it's second floor, where training dummies and archery targets stood stagnant, occasionally being moved by winds of the cloudy day.

Karliah walked a few feet from us and turned to look at us. "Watch." She said.

We looked at her patiently.

She closed her eyes and as she did, she began to resonante a darkish aura. I assumed she was channeling her magicka. Suddenly, a swirling orb of purple, evil-looking energy errupted from Karliah, engulfing her body.

Hildir and I both gazed, frightened and confused at what was happening.

After a few moments, The orb slowly shrunk and faded, with Karliah still fine, only now, she was in a completely different armor. It was a dark, menacing armor with the nightingale symbol on the chest area of the outfit. The armor itself resonanted an aura of mysterious energies I couldn't even comprehend; I never thought I would see an armor that looks so mysterious and deadly.

I made a quick assumption. "Is that... the armor of the nightingales?"

Karliah, who is now under a mask and hood said, "Yes."

"...Bound armor!" Hildir exclaimed.

"No, it's real armor; I summoned it." She slipped a glove off, and put it back on in order to indicate that it's no magical carapace. "You should know how to summon it already if you read the tome recently."

"I read it every first thing in the morning, so I guess I do."

"It is not spell, but a power; You should feel it within you, Ly'ro. You should feel the urge, not to use the ability, but to serve Nocturnal with it." Karliah said.

I attempted to channel my magicka. I began to feel a dark aura resonate from within my body. With moments of focus, the same orb of energy Karliah had appeared, devouring me as it grew. Through my eyes, Everything went pitch black. I felt my regular armor shifting, fading away and a new, stronger, durable armor formed on my body. The energy orb fades, the darkness is gone, and My eyesight returns to me; I assumed the process was complete. I look at myself, to find I have a new set of armor on, as expected. I found that the armor is skin tight, or fur tight, considering my race. It was slightly uncomfortable to move, but I was sure I would get used to it. the mask and hood didnt appear for me; I assumed it wouldn't fit on my khajiit head.

Karliah moved to a training dummy and tapped it. "Practice movement and attack with your new armor and broadsword. You will be better, faster, and stronger."

I nodded and unsheathed my sword.

"Ill just be over here, meditating..." Hildir said, and went to sit in an area, secluded from us.

Time passes, dusk falls, and after at least six to eight hours of training, we come at rest, at a campfire Karliah had quickly taught me to set up.

"Are we going to be here any longer?" Hildir said, placing a piece of wood from her pack in the fire.

"Another week, then we continue to Ivarstead." She said.

"So, Karliah..." I asked.

"What?"

"Have you seen the white knight before?"

"Yes... I've battled him and failed to defeat him."

"What does he look like?"

"I was fighting him from afar with my bow and I couldn't get a good look at him, But what I can tell you is that his name explains what he looks like well enough; He's a knight in shining white armor."

"When are we going get more information on him?"

"Soon. I've obtained a report from the guild-mates and we've captured the guard that knows about the white knight. For now, just keep training so we can defeat him."

"Is he that powerful?"

"No, your father just kept ignoring him."

"What do you mean?"

"Dar'Jo sent our best fighters, one by one, to fight him; He never sent an actual team." She began to ball her fist up in anger. "If he had simply sent us all as a team, so many wouldn't have died already..."

"He couldn't have done something that simple?" I asked, baffled at his failure to do something so easy.

"He was too busy going out of town for his 'business ventures', buying women and wine to even pay attention to the threat; now we're moping up the mess he made."

"How can he even manage the guild if he cant even take care of such a effortless task?"

"Simple; He doesn't. Walks-in-Shadows does basically all of the work, and he knows it too; He's just too stubborn to admit that the guild needs new management, since Dar'Jo is one of his 'dear friends'."

"Well, How many guildmates have been killed by him, Karliah?"

Her once angry voice then turned blue and gloomy."Many fine guildmates... Vex, Delvin, Brynyolf, Niruin, Vipir... the list goes on. I cannot dwell on such a subject, Ly'ro. It only continues to make me angry at your father; For all of their blood is on his hands." , Karliah said with more sorrow than anger.

"You want to kill him, don't you?" I asked.

"No, I want you to kill him." She said pointing at me.

"Why specifically me?"

"Personal satisfaction."

I nodded, understandly.

"Anyway, if we have more than just one nightingale, we'll defeat him, I guarantee it." She then looked at Hildir. "Now, Hildir is your name, correct? What use are you?"

"Oh, I know some magic, and I've been making scrolls for Ly'ro recently."

"Are you familiar with the scripts of the phantom spells?" She asked.

"No, but it will be easy for me to learn them, if I have the tomes."

"I know someone who can teach you them. My next question: what is your connection between Ly'ro and you?"

"Um, well..." she scratched her head. "I presume we're friends."

"Tis' an unwise thing, bringing your significants along with you."

"Well, I've been able to take care of myself, and likewise for Ly'ro..."

"Oh? I seem to remember Ly'ro rescuing you from a gang of elves."

Hildir looked to herself.

"I'm not trying to say you're useless, Hildir; I'm simply saying that perhaps you should rethink traveling with us."

"I'll be fine. and if I get in the way of our path too much, you can simply leave me."

"Fair enough." Karliah said.

Silence was abroad after our conversation. I wasn't tired even after the hours of training, I was just thinking about the white knight, and how to put an end to his spree. After that, a footstep was overheard from afar. My khajiit ears gave me the perception to notice it. I immediately stood up looking in the direction of the sound. Hildir and Karliah look at me, assuming im just hearing things.

"Who's there?" I shout, into the darkness.

More footsteps are heard, coming closer.

Karliah grabs her bow and an arrow, quickly.

"Stand down!" A middle-aged man, a redguard appears from the darkness, with his hands up, indicating he means no harm. As he comes closer, His now visible attire says otherwise; he has a steel broadsword sheathed at his hip, a steel shield at his left arm, and he bears the armor of the dawnguard. He comes closer to us, then stumbles to the ground, tripping on a rock. He gets up quickly, pretending his fall never occured.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, interrogatively.

"My name is Sauther, and i'm looking for a cave, not far from here. I mean no harm to you, honest; I'm just looking for directions."

"You expect to find directions to a cave?" I asked, sarcastically.

"You're looking for the cave with the vampire, aren't you?" Karliah asked.

"Indeed, I need to slay her, but... I lost my map."

I looked at Karliah, surprised. "Wow, you knew that?" I asked.

"Yes, it's a cave currently occupied with a vampire with an interest in spiders. In fact, I was going to task you with slaying her single-handedly as well as apart of your training by the end of this week. What a coincidence."

The Redguard, Sauther, grew a confident smile. "My apologies, but you're too late. The spider-loving wench is mine." He said.

"But, you dont know where it is..." Hildir said.

"Oh... Well, I'll find her eventually! Surely within the end of the week!" He said.

"Well, perhaps you and Ly'ro can do it together." Hildir said, forming a solution.

"Not a chance! I dont need anyone's hand."

"You mentioned you lost your own map; You don't seem very competent, no offense." Hildir bluffed.

He looked to himself, thinking.

Karliah added to Hildir's words. "The vampire we're talking about has many giant spiders at her grasp, not just a few; and you think you can handle her alone?"

"Sh-shut up!" He shouted.

"I think we both know what will happen if you go in alone." Karliah said.

"Well, what's so different about the cat?"

"I'm... special. Let's leave it at that." I said. "Also, I can walk a few steps without stumbling to the ground like a clumsy fool.", I decided to mention.

He sighed. "Fine..."

"Does this mean he is with us until loredas? Hildir asked, looking at Karliah.

She nodded, thinking about it beforehand.

"But I thought what we were doing was secret." Hildir said.

"I'm sure our actions will be kept hidden by our new acquaintence." Karliah said, ominously. "Wont they?" She said, eyeing Sauther threateningly.

Karliah's eyes struck him with fright. "Well... as long as it isnt related with undead, or necromancy, I don't truly mind." He said, nervously.

"...Good, Now go sleep somewhere where we can see you... Sauther." Karliah ordered.

He left to go set up his own camp nearby, within the fort.


	15. Bloodsucker bout

The following days before loredas were quite awkward; With our new ally in the background during our training, questions were being thrown at us often. Luckily Karliah, with a few threats and warnings, managed to keep him from asking anymore questions.

By first thing in the morning at loredas, Karliah navigated to a cave far from the abandoned fort we took refuge in. We had approached the entrance to the cave, riddled with sticky webbings egg sacs.

"So, can I get more information on this vampire, before you send me on this random crusade?" I asked.

"She is a recent necromancer turned vampire, banned from the winderhold college for practicing blood magicks." Sauther said.

"Blood magicks? I thought those were lost to history.", Hildir said.

"Thanks to the Volhikar vampires, That's untrue..." Sauther replied.

"Well then, I'll just do what I do best; Stay out of sight." I said.

Sauther rolled his eyes. "Hmph, figured I would do all the work." He unsheathed his steel broadsword.

"Shut your mouth, Redguard; You're getting what you wanted." I responded.

I unsheathed my nightingale blade, channeled my magicka and summoned my nightingale armor.

Sauther looked at me in slight horror, almost as much as he did the first time he saw me and Karliah transform during our recent training days.

"I'm ready." I said, with all seriousness. I looked back at Hildir and Karliah. "Wish us luck."

"May the Lady shroud you, Ly'ro. And as for you Sauther... good luck." Karliah said.

"Um... what she said." Hildir added.

We both entered, boldly, and arms raised.

Darkness fell as we entered. It wasnt pitch black, but it was definitely dark enough for something to creep on us. Our footsteps slowed down, avoiding any and all pieces of webbings we may blunder on. When we slowed our own foot steps, we heard the sounds of others. In fact, we heard many. Repeated clicking, hissing, and so on was being easier and easier to hear as we traverse farther and farther into the cave; no hostiles were seen yet however. I inspected Sauthers footsteps. They werent suited for stealth of course, but they were definitely treading steps, not from an assassin, but a warrior. We had gotten to the end of the cave and ran into a new "room"; Frostbite spiders, at least four were in this new area, along with actual human beings webbed and trapped, stuck on the walls. All of the people in the cocoons were dead, with amounts of blood leaking from their necks, aside from one. That lone survivor, a khajiit female, is still alive, struggling and grunting. She notices our arrival and looks at us expectantly, assuming were going to help her.

"What do you suggest we do?" I ask Sauther, preparing a strategy.

As I ask, I already see Sauther, mindlessly running into the fray, shouting with a barbarian's enfuriated scream. He charges against the first spider with a foward stab, slaying it instantaneously. The other now hostile insects, rush towards him, with pedipalps hissing. He quickly threw a horizontal strike, causing the opposing monsters to stagger for a moment. That was my moment to strike; I leap out into the fray, furiously stabbing the spider farthest way from Sauther, in the abdomen. I chose to kill that one beforehand in order to maintain a flanking position on our targets. Sauther's next strike was another horizontal strike, killing both remaining targets at once, surprisingly. The hostiles were clear but more spiders were heard echoing within the additional tunnels in this cave; they more than likely know we're here, thanks to Sauther's idiotic shouting.

I approached Sauther, grabbing him by his armor, enraged at his blatant stupidity. "Next time, wait and formulate a plan, you incoordinated ass!"

He shoved me from him, voilently. "What in oblivion are worrying about a plan for? They're just damned spiders."

I look at him, dumbfounded by his words. "Who taught you how to fight without a plan? Are you stupid?"

"Dont you dare disrespect my masters!" He said, fowarding his hostilities toward me. He pointed his sword at me.

I laugh at him and grow a sadistic grin, attempting to scare him. "The last man you want to point that thing at, is me right now."

"You've got some nerve, disrespecting someone older than you!" He shouts.

"Si'ta is still waiting patiently for her unbinding." The khajiit, who I forgot was even there, was still attatched to the wall, apparently watching our little argument.

We put our brief quarell aside and cut the webbing off of the captive.

I cut her bindings off, revealing herself. She bears a green trench coat, with various belts and accessories attached to them. Thick spots of dried mud and dirt cover her garb. A quiver is dangling from her hip, and a dead hare is next to it; I concluded that she was a hunter. When we cut her down She fell to her feet swiftly, taking a quick stretch and unlatching the supposed game from her armor. She looks at me first of all, with a brow raised. "While it is dark, my khajiit eyes can still see bretheren before me; Si'ta is baffled at your non-khajiit accent."

"Look, can we get to introductions later?" I asked, ignoring her trivial question.

"Very well." She looked around and picked up a hunting bow, And a quiver with leftover arrows. "I am ready to take revenge for my pack."

"Oh, Sorry about your friends, by the way." I mentioned.

She nodded at me. "Where has your presumed rival gone?"

"What are you..." I looked around to find Sauther, gone. "Son of a bitch..."

"The redguard went that way." The khajiit woman, who I assumed was named Si'ta pointed at a nearby tunnel, the supposed source of the spiders sounds. Suddenly, a great explosion, the sound of squealing deaths of the insects, and Sauther shouting was heard from that same tunnel.

I looked towards the khajiit woman. "Sita is your name, right?"

She nodded.

"Can you follow my lead and do as I say? Sorry if I sound like im bossing you around, I just need-"

"You needn't continue. Si'ta understands." She said.

I smiled at her cooperation. "Thanks a lot, let's go."

I crouched and prowled into the next tunnel. Si'ta gave me an odd smile, and followed along, using her own prowling stance.

I continued on through the tunnel with my other new companion, who hopefully would be smarter than the Sauther.

We crept over to the new area, to find an setting much brighter, being lit by torch sconces on the walls. More importantly, Sauther was amidst a battle with a giant frostbite spider, larger than the ones from before. Another interesting thing to point out; A pale-skinned woman, who I assumed was the vampire, was seated on top of its abdomen, as if she were using it as a mount. The woman was in mage robes, wielding a staff with fumes of fire coming out of its tip; I assumed that was where the explosion came from. The woman stood, throwing monstrous fireballs from her staff, while riding the spider with well-maintained stability; Sauther was struggling, dodging and blocking her spells, frantically.

"Si'ta hopes you have a plan before the redguard falls to the bloodsucker." Si'ta asked.

"He can die; I'm just wondering how to stop that damned spide-" I thought of an idea as I finished my sentence. "I got it!" Snapping my fingers.

I channeled my magicka to my left hand, with my right being occupied at the moment. The mounted spider hurled a ball of webbing at Sauther, colliding with his legs, disabling him from movement. Sauther was bait before his opposition at that point, staring at the monster with fear and helplessness. I quickly casted my fury spell at the spider before Sauther had been eaten or killed. The spider began to glow a red aura, and became released from the vampire's control. The insect bucked, launching the bloodsucker off of it to the ground, dropping her staff.

"Now!" I rushed to grab the staff before the vampire could retrieve it. I pick it up, throwing it farther away from the opposer than before. I then rush to the vampiress, barely conscious due to her sudden dismount. She gets up, attempting to channel her magicka, probably to cast one of her nasty blood magic spells; Luckily, I was faster than her. I swing ferociously, my blade tears into her throat. She tumbles back down to the ground, gagging and bleeding from her neck. I watched her bleed out and die, slightly sickened by actions.

I overhear Sauther shouting for help, as the spider, affected by my fury spell, is still on the loose, and is very close to killing him. Sauther's steel sword was the only thing halting the spider's fangs from entering Sauther's chest.

An arrow flew, darting to the spider's face, causing it to flinch and quiver, backing off from Sauther. I dashed towards the giant monster from behind, jumping on top of it's abdomen. I wildly stab beneath me, the spider squealing louder and louder with every given impalement. After a few more seconds of violent attacks, the insect falls, twitching and and spurting green slime from it's wounds. I get off the spider slowly, with some of the spider's green slime, which I assumed was blood was on my chest armor. I channeled my magicka and transformed back to my regular guild armor. The green blood went away with the other armor, which I was happy to see. Si'ta looked at me, raising a brow at my mystical change of clothes.

I ignored her notice, and searched the vampire for any loot. She had beared a satchel containing a journal, which im sure she wrote. I threw it away, not caring for it. I picked up the staff she used against Sauther, for it then belonged to me. Scanning the area, nothing else of value was around.

Si'ta and Sauther, who managed to the webs off of himself, approached me.

"I suggest we speak casually when we get out of here."

"Agreed." Sita said, cooperatively.

Sauther silently nodded, still traumatized by his near-death experience.


	16. Enter the Huntress

Leaving the cave, I took a deep breath, staring at the clear sky, happy at the fact that our little skirmish was over; Only thing left to do was figure out what to do with the others. Hildir and Karliah approached me as I stood out of the cave.

"Is it done?" Hildir asked.

"Yes, no thanks to Sauther." I handed her the staff I looted. "Here's the bitch's staff as proof; keep it."

"Wow... thanks." She inspected the staff, looking it up and down, for any symbols that may indicate it's purpose.

"The thing shoots fireballs, You'll love it." I said.

She nodded.

Karliah inspected my fatigued state. "Echoes of explosions and screeching of insects were heard from the depths of that cave; that's enough proof for me.", Karliah said.

Sauther and Si'ta appeared from behind me shortly.

Hildir and Karliah silently raised a brow at the khajiit.

"And who is that?" Karliah asked, eyeing Si'ta.

"Oh, this is Si'ta. She was being held captive in the cave."

Si'ta approached me, looking me up and down. "As I was asking before, why is this one's accent non-existent?" She asked.

"I was born and raised in Skyrim; not even my parents have an accent."

"This one is a Suthay-raht?", She asked.

"Umm... what?", I asked, giving her on odd look.

"Your ethnicity?" She asked.

"I don't know... does it matter?"

"What kind of khajiit are you? You do not even know your own heritage?"

I was offended by her words. "Look, Why don't you just get lost? Both of you." I said, looking at Sauther and Si'ta who were both annoying me at this point.

Sauther crossed his arms. "You don't have to tell me twice, I'm getting away from you unholy people." He turned his back and then left us.

After watching Sauther go his separate way from us, I silently stare at Si'ta.

"As for I, That cave was mine, and my hunting pack's home, and you see why Si'ta cannot return there; perhaps I can accompany you for your travels?" Si'ta asked.

"No, What we're doing is confidential to anyone but our kind." I said.

"I say otherwise, Ly'ro. She could help us with the white knight." Karliah said.

"Not a chance, Karliah, We can take care of ourselves; We're nightingales!"

"Judging by your armor, I presume you're a thief?" Si'ta asked. She rummaged through her pocket and approached me. "Perhaps this will change your mind?" She pulled a bottle of liquid from her pocket. A quick sniff indicated that it was skooma.

I was already annoyed by her questioning of my ancestry. After that, she waves skooma in my face; Then I was infuriated. "Get that filth away from me!" I shouted angrily and smacked her hand, causing the bottle to spin off, smashing it into pieces as it collides into a rock.

"You picked the wrong person to offer skooma to." Hildir suddenly said, assuming what the bottle contained.

"Get the hell out of here!" I shouted.

"Ly'ro, control yourself." Karliah advised while pulling me away from her. "She will come with us, so long as she does what we say."

"But..." I took a deep breath. "Alright, fine..."

I approached Si'ta, after being pulled away from her.

"You do exactly as I, or Karliah say, understand?"

"My apologies for my questions, I just don't even think you are khajiit, not that it matters."

"Just because I don't speak in third person and guzzle skooma all day doesn't mean I'm not a khajiit, you ignorant stray."

"Fair enough." She said.

"Just do as I say and we'll both be content with each other."

"Very well."

"Let's get back to the fort; I'll explain to you what were doing there." Karliah said.

"Understood."

As a new party, we return to the abandoned fort.

I took a moment to relax, looking at Si'ta, who was looking at Karliah, prepared for an explanation.

Karliah, ruining my attempts at relieving stress, immediately said, "Don't get comfortable. Were going to Ivarstead in an hour."

I groaned.

"So, tell me what it is you're all doing.", Si'ta said.

"We are thieves, as you assumed, but we aren't ordinary burglars, as im sure you guessed by now; We are nightingales: warriors of Nocturnal, the daedric princess of night, darkness, and luck."

Si'ta crossed her arms. "Interesting."

"We are on a mission to slay a warrior known as the white knight, for he threatens to destroy the thieves guild. I'm traveling with Ly'ro, this khajiit, to train him so he can defeat him. That's basically it."

"Si'ta understands." She said, nodding.

"Good, that means we can continue our journey."

I was quite surprised at how cooperative Si'ta has been with everything.

"As I said, we'll be traveling to Ivarstead in about an hour, so relax until then." Karliah left to pack up until then.

I lied down on my bedroll.

Hildir approached me while I was lying down. "You seem to be awfully calm, for someone who just finished brushing with death."

I laughed. "Tell that to Sauther, I wasn't anywhere near death's door; He was the one swinging his edge at whatever moved."

"Ah." Hildir said, while still inspecting the staff I gave her.

Si'ta approached me afterwards. "Ly'ro, correct?"

"Yes, what?"

"May I have your age?"

"Nineteen."

"Ah, perfect."

Hildir and I raised a brow at her. "Umm... what is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Si'ta will make her words blunt; The reason why I was asking you those questions from before was because I have interest in you."

"...Excuse me?"

"I find you attractive."

I stare at her for moments, unsure of what exactly to say.

Hildir gave a stare of slight irritation, I wasn't sure why.

"Is something wrong?" Si'ta asked, laughing. "Are you only fond of men?"

"No!" I Shouted, impulsively. "I mean, not exclusively..."

"Well then, clearly this one is speechless, so khajiit will change the subject; How have you learned such stealth? Your sneaking abilites are remarkable, especially at such a young age."

I was thankful of her compliment, but mostly her subject change. "Oh, um... Six years worth of training, along with some other things."

"You have been trained in the art of stealth since you were thirteen?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"You would make an amazing hunter... Hircine would truly adore you."

"Who?"

"Ah, he is no one you need to know."

"I presume Hircine is your god?" Hildir asked.

Si'ta nodded at her.

"Wait, who's Hircine?"

"Hircine is the daedric lord of the hunt." Hildir explained.

"Oh, I see; You're a daedra worshipper."

"Indeed." Si'ta began to grow a smile.

I looked back at her, wondering why,

She approached me very closely while I was lying down, looking me in the eye and giving me a seductive smile.

I stare back at her, nervous.

"Since you know this now, is this one considering going under his wing? He desires only the finest huntsmen, and Si'ta thinks you more than qualify."

"Well, I..." It was difficult to speak with her giving me her provokative grin.

Hildir grows irritated at her attempts to lure me. "He already belongs to Nocturnal." Hildir said, in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Oh? Such a shame. Let me know if you change your mind." She said, stepping away from me, but still keeping her eyes on me.

I get up, and speak to her with seriousness. "I strongly suggest we keep our relationship strictly business related, Si'ta. Like I said, Just do as I say."

"I will do as you say, sure..." She turned around. "... However, Si'ta will not make any promises." She then left our presence to scout the area.

"Wow, what a... harlot..." Hildir murmured.

"She seemed nice to me." I said.

"Of course she seemed nice to you." She replied, in a sarcastic, angered manner.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just get yourself some rest, Ly'ro." She said, crossing her arms and leaving my prescence.

I scratched my head, wondering what her problem was. After trying to understand, I figured it was just a "girl thing" and nodded off for the hour until we were to make our voyage to Ivarstead.


	17. Ivarstead

When the time had come, We had continued down the road of Lake Honrich to find Ivarstead, a quiet, unpopulated town of pilgrims and farmers. We took refuge in the Vilimeyr inn, within the village. According to Karliah, we were waiting for a contact to inform us about how much time we had left before the white knight would attack the guild. It's been a day since we've been waiting in the inn, and Hildir hasn't spoken to me since; I have no idea why.

She was in a table, sitting to herself, while I was leaning on a wood pillar, staring at her worryingly.

I walked to her and sat to her table. "Okay, are you angry at me?" I asked, confronting her.

"No." She replied, not looking at me directly.

"Then why havent you spoken to me since we were at the fort?"

"Because..." She murmured.

"...Clearly you are angry at me."

"I'm not angry, Ly'ro. I'm just... disappointed... All you men are the same."

I raise a brow at her sexist remark. "...What are you on about?"

She looked around the inn. "Is that khajiit wench in here?"

"No, she said she was hungry for game, and found bear tracks nearby."

"Good... Ly'ro, stay away from that girl."

"What's the problem with her? She seems friendly enough."

"She's just a temptress, Ly'ro; She's a skank."

"You've only known her for two days, and you two havent even had actual conversation at all... How can you prove that?"

"You seem to have completely forgotten when she was coming onto you back in the fort, trying trick you into worshipping Hiricine, even when She already knew damned well you worshipping Nocturnal."

"Hush!" I lowered my voice, so no one else would hear. "Do you want people to know were entangled with daedric princes? She was just teasing me after admitting she liked me, Hildir. It's no big deal."

She raised her voice. "How do you know that? How do you know you wont wake up with all your clothes and gold gone one day, huh?"

I gave her an odd look for a few moments.

After realizing how crazy she sounded, she calmed down. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

"Is this coming from something that happened in your past?"

"...Yes."

"I figured that..." I said.

She stood silent alittle longer, looking to herself. I was reminded of myself watching her with that sad expression on her face, Depressed and hopeless with no one to speak to. I felt as if nothing could reach her, and she was alone, just like me. That caused me to have a complete change of emotion on the situation.

"Hildir."

"What?" She murmured.

I put my hand on hers as she continued to look away from me. "Speak to me."

She finally looked at me directly. "What do you mean?"

I remembered the same words my mother gave me when I was alone like her. "I understand you feel alone right now, but know this: I'm here."

She looked at me for a few moments quietly, then grew a smile. "Ly'ro, relax. I'm just annoyed about something, that's all."

"Tell me what it is."

"I'll tell you if you get your hand off of me."

I slowly release my hand from hers, and look at her expectantly.

"So... My father was a wise man, but he would fall for any woman that had a dress that was revealing breasts. There was this woman that was in the Arcane University, back when I was in Cyrodiil. You know the type; manipulative whore. She decided to get with my father, obviously for the perks that come with being with a man with his reputation."

"I don't doubt you, but can you prove that?"

"She only asked for jewelry, was always kissing up to him, and last but not least, she was half his age."

"Well, when you put it that way, I believe you. Is that all?"

"No, the worst part is..." She began to struggle to speak. "I tried... and tried to tell him that she was just a harlot... but he never listened. And a few months later, she separated from him and actually got away with a bunch of gold and valuables from my father as well."

"Well, I think it could've been worse."

"That's not the problem though; the problem is that I felt... so... powerless against her; As if there was nothing I could do to stop the problem, and I didn't mean anything to my father."

"I see." I said, analyzing her words.

"Ly'ro, please watch yourself around that woman."

I nodded. "Understood."

I gave her a smile, ensuring I wouldnt fall for such tricks, but Hildir went back to her depressed look, even after our talk.

I got up from the table. "So, we've been sitting in this inn for quite some time. You wanna go for a walk?"

She looked at me with an odd expression. "Walk where?"

"We could go up the trail to the seven thousand steps; I think you could use some fresh air."

With moments of thought, she gets up and looks at me. "Alright."

We both move outside and walk across the bridge, nudging by traveling pilgrims.

"Oh, and Ly'ro..." Hildir said.

"What is it?"

"You seemed awfully satisfied, when you grabbed my hand."

"...What are you getting at?"

"I'm just saying, if you want to do that again, I'm not stopping you." She said, pretending as if she didn't care whether I did or did not.

I smiled at her and grabbed her hand. We took a trek up the steps, not all seven thousand of them, of course. We took the road up the trail and had more small talk. The road wasn't too bad; it was increasingly getting windy as we continued up the steps, but that was it. Pilgrims carrying bags were coming up and down, probably delivering food to those hermits that resided up at the tip top of the mountain.

One pilgrim halted us from continuing up the steps while we were touring. "Excuse me, you don't want to continue up the steps just yet; there's a bear up ahead."

"A bear?" Hildir said, and then looked to me. "Didn't you say Si'ta was tracking a bear?"

Remembering that, I rush past the pilgrim to see what the situation is. Hildir followed along too.

Up the next flight of steps, we find Si'ta with her hands covered in blood, next to a deceased bear, laid on its side, split open. We approached her silently as she was kneeled down, skinning the beast.

"Do not sneak up on me like that." Si'ta said, still skinning the animal.

"Sorry about that, We didn't want to interrupt you." I said.

Hildir backs up, disgusted at the sight of Si'ta's hunting act. As she does this, she notices and picks up one of Si'ta's boots, which were laid out on the ground. "Why did you take your shoes off?", She asked.

"Walker instinct. Si'ta's feet can feel the vibrations of the ground; It's how I could tell you were near, other than my ears catching you."

"That's impressive." I said.

"My thanks; Hircine is a fine teacher. Perhaps I may teach you such a skill."

"No thanks, maybe Hildir could learn something from you rather than I." I said, attempting to bring Hildir and Si'ta together.

"What could I possibly learn from her?" She said, in a sassy and impudent manner.

"Hildir, be nice." I murmured, nudging her arm.

"You'd be surprised, Mage." Si'ta said, pointing her iron, bloodied, hunting dagger at her.

"Ly'ro." Karliah's voice suddenly appeared.

I turned around to find her, directly behind me and Hildir.

I was starled at her sudden appearance. "Damn it, Why do you always do that?" I said, stepping away from her quickly.

"...Force of habit." She muttered. "Anyway, Sharia came by."

"She did?" My attention became absolute. "What did she say?"

"Nothing. She simply delivered two messages."

"Oh, she was the contact... What do the messages say?"

"The first one is a message about your job back in Windhelm. The guard we were looking for was captured and interrogated by the guild before he made it to Cyrodiil, and now we have proper information on the white knight, other than just my faint sights of him."

"Excellent. What do we know?"

"He's a nord, an old one, and is armed with an ancient, enchanted armor."

"Interesting."

"Also, he carries a daedric artifact."

"What's it called?"

"Dawnbreaker."

"Sounds dangerous... Hildir, do you know anything about that?"

Karliah spoke before Her. "Morina researched it already; It's weapon that's supposed to belong to the champion of Meridia."

"And I'm guessing that Meridia is a daedric prince?"

"Yes, She's the prince of life, radiance, and energy." Hildir said.

"That explains how he could kill off the entire dark brotherhood; He had a daedric prince at his back."

"So, how long until this white knight figures out where the guild resides?" Si'ta said, while cutting out the furred layer of the bear, leaving a grotesque carcass.

"Our guild-mates are baiting and luring him as far away from the Rift as possible. There's no telling how much time we have; Perhaps months, or perhaps mere days."

"How much time do you think I'll need, Karliah?"

She crossed her arms in thought, then thought of a time. "One month."

I shuddered in thought of failure.

"You're a very fast learner, Ly'ro. But I want you to be at your peak. One month seems accurate to me."

I nodded, slowly.

"Also, the second note." She handed it to me. "Sharia said it was personally from your mother."

"Great..." I said sarcastically, presuming Sharia told mother about my intentions after this quest was over.

"We're moving to Whiterun tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Be prepared." She left back to the inn afterwards.

"Perhaps you two could help khajiit?", Si'ta asked. "Maybe you'll learn a thing or two as well."

"Hildir, why don't you help Si'ta? I've gotta... go for a moment." I left shortly after Karliah.

"But..." She couldnt get any words through me; I was busy pondering about the note. She turns to Si'ta, who is now cutting up hunks of meat. She sighed.


End file.
